Shattered
by Jillie062
Summary: Summary sux. Ken&Kari. After an intense battle against the Kaiser, Kari is kidnapped. But Kari may not be the only victim of the Kaiser, Ken may be as well. FINISHED
1. Captured

Author's Note: The story will show Ken's thoughts in italics. Thoughts that are strictly Ken's are _like so_, thoughts that are only the Kaiser's are **_like so._** It will make more sense later. Ken usually listens to the voice because it has control over him. He doesn't often fight it, and when he does, he usually loses.

This is a Ken/Kari and there will be some violence, not-too graphic romance scenes (not a lime or lemon), and possible strong use of language.

The digidestined were called to help the digiworld at age 15, not 11/12. They have been fighting the Kaiser for over a year, and now know his identity.

Ages:

Kari, Tk, Davis, Ken, Yolie: 16

Cody: 13

Tai, Matt, Sora, Mimi: 19

Izzy: 20 (just cause I want him to be:)

Joe: 22

I tend to alternate between Japanese and English names for a few of the characters. I hope that that isn't a problem.

Also, I don't remember all the names and attacks of the digimon, so if I have it wrong, please let me know in a review so I can fix it! (I had to make up attacks!)

**Shattered**

**Chapter One: Captured**

The Kaiser watched anxiously as another fierce battle unfolded between his slaves and the digidestined. He stood there, perfectly composed, in the middle of the battlefield, totally still save the slight ruffle of his spiky hair and the constant darting of his eyes. He couldn't miss a thing. He wanted to defeat those digidestined brats once and for all.

Davis and Flamedramon were holding off five Monochromon, but his strength was beginning to falter. Yolie and Cody were circled by several Tyranomon, while Halsemon and Digmon attempted to defend them. Kari and Tk were by the edge of the cliff with Nefertimon and Pegasusmon flying overhead and pushing back two Blacktyranomon.

Ken saw that Tk and Kari's digimon would soon overpower the Blacktryranomon and go help the others. He pointed a finger in their direction and several Gisamon (think a type of dinosaur, you decide which) rushed past him and towards the two.

One Gisamon jumped up and bit down into Nefertimon's back. Being distracted, she could not block the Blacktyranomon's attack a second later. Kari cried out to her partner as she ran to catch the descending Gatomon.

"Gatomon, are you alright?" she asked, cradling the injured cat in her arms. Gatomon nodded weakly.

The Blacktyranomon swung his tail around to finish off the white feline, but Kari threw Gatomon from her arms just in time, and took the attack herself. She was thrown to the ground, a few feet from the cliff's edge.

"Kari!" Tk screamed, catching the Kaiser's attention. _**What's this? Ha! the girl with the cat digimon must be hurt. I wonder how those boys will react.** Her name is Kari, and I'm not trying to hurt them, just to defeat them! **What's the easiest way to defeat them, Kenny?**_

Ken ignored the voice and jumped on his Airdramon to get a better look at what was happening. From the air he saw Tk leaning over Kari and shaking her shoulder gently. She awoke, but moved little. Gatomon was being attacked by Gisamon left and right, and wasn't fairing well. Tk shouted to Pegasusmon to help her out, which he did, leaving both Blacktyranomon to their own devices. The Blacktyranomon who had attacked Gatomon now turned his attention on the two humans set out in front of him. He slammed his tail down in front of Tk. He went flying backwards a few feet and Kari was left by the edge of the cliff. The tail slammed down again and the cliff crumbled. Kari screamed as she went over the cliff.

_**Well, that's one way to off a digidestined.** **No way will she survive that fall, if the impact of the water doesn't kill her, she'll surely drown. **I don't want her to die, I'm not a killer. **Let her die, she's a distraction. **No!** Well, the others won't reach her in time.**_

Ken cracked his whip against the Airdramon's back and it flew down towards Kari. He caught her arm a short distance from the water. He was pretty sure he heard a 'popping' sound when he grabbed her arm. Being knocked off balance, Ken fell off the Airdramon and into the water. "Dammit, I just got this cape cleaned!" He pulled Kari onto the Airdramon before hoisting himself up. She was unconscious at this point.

_**Now what, genius? **I'm not sure-** get back to the base, take the girl with you. I have a plan.**_ Ken cracked his whip against Airdramon again. It took off with Ken and Kari.

Tk had recovered from being winded by the Blacktyranomon. He stood up in time to see Ken riding off with Kari in his arms. "Kari! NOOOO! Pegasusmon, stop Ken!"

Pegasusmon took off the ground but was brought down by a group of Gisamon jumping on him. Pegasusmon dedigivolved into Patamon a moment later. "I'm sorry Tk; I just don't have the energy to fight anymore."

Tk nodded at his partner. He scooped up Gatomon and carried Patamon under his arm. Davis motioned for him to come over when he saw Tk running in the open area.

Before Davis could ask what happened, and where Kari was, a battered Veemon was thrown at him. "We need to retreat," Yolie called. Tk and Davis made a run for the forest, both holding the injured digimon. Yolie and Cody were holding Hawkmon and Armadillomon, both of which were out cold.

"Run!" Yolie screamed as all the controlled digimon turned towards the defenseless teens. They complied, though Tk was reluctant.

The slave digimon did not chase the digidestined for long. "I have to go after Kari," Tk choked out, after they had made it a safe distance from the humiliating battle scene.

"Where is she?" Davis asked.

"Ken took her," he answered, beating his fist against a tree.

"We have to have faith that Kari can take care of herself for a little while, the digimon are too exhausted to go after her," Cody, the voice of reason, explained.

"Then I'll go by myself" Tk snapped back.

"How are you going to find her? We don't know where the Digimon Emperor's base is. Besides, you'd never make it past all the controlled digimon."

"And you're hurt," Yolie added, looking at Tk's bloody arm. "We'll go back, have Izzy track down her location, and then the older digidestined can help us get her back."

Tk and Davis were both pulled to the nearest TV screen kicking and fighting Yolie and Cody. "Digiport Open!" Cody yelled.

The group landed in a heap on the computer room floor. "What if he does something to Kari while we're waiting around for the digimon to regain their strength?" Tk started pacing back and forth in the computer room. "We have to go back."

"I agree with Ts. Ken's crazy, he might hurt Kari" Davis jumped in.

"Can't you see that the digimon are in no shape to go on a rescue mission? Kari can take care of herself until morning." Yolie took Davis and violently shook his shoulders. "Okay?"

Davis nodded reluctantly. He couldn't ask Veemon to fight anymore and Gatomon was barely able to hold her head up. Not that she could digivolve without Kari anyway.

"You don't understand," Tk said, "I made a promise to Tai that I wouldn't let anything happen to Kari. I made a promise to her!"

"Tai isn't going to blame you for this. He might not understand right away, but it's not your fault." Cody took a deep sign and sat down.

"What won't I understand and what isn't his fault?" Tai asked as he walked into the computer room with Matt.

"Tk, you look like shit, what happened?" Matt went to his brother's side and examined Tk's arm.

"I'm fine," Tk snapped, pulling his arm away.

"You don't look fine," Matt commented.

"Where's Kari?" Tai asked.

"She's…she was kidnapped." Tk lowered his head so the others wouldn't see the tears forming in his eyes.

"WHAT!"

The hallway was poorly lit and had a distinct odor like that of decaying flesh. The Kaiser carried Kari down the corridor towards the dungeons. "Ken, you're all wet! What happened? Is that a human girl with you?" Wormmon was instantly at his partner's feet.

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me master? Go away Wormmon, this doesn't concern you." Ken opened one of the cells and placed Kari on the cell bed. _She actually is very pretty. I can see why those two always fight over her.** Exactly what I was thinking. **What do you mean? **Grab her digivice and the white computer. **_

Ken found the objects and left Kari lying on the cell bed, soaking wet and still unconscious. He made his way up to the control room and started up his computer. "Let's see how the other Digi-losers are doing on their own." Ken checked out the surveillance camera that was connected to the nearest spire and several others that were hidden nearby. Ken only saw the controlled digimon lying around. "Hmmm…" He checked out other cameras that were around the area, but nothing showed up. "I guess they ran off when they saw that their defeat was at hand."

Opening up the back of the digivice, Ken made a few small changes to it. Mainly, he blocked the signal so that it wouldn't lead the others to her. Then he took the white computer (a/n what is that called?) and turned it on. He looked through the list of e-mails and selected a few. He began typing a short e-mail and, after a moment of debate, he sent it.

"WHAT?" Tai screamed, lunging at Tk and pinning him against the wall. Tk grunted in pain.

"Dude, chill," Matt yelled, pulling Tai away from his younger brother. Tai turned on Matt and shoved him backwards.

"Where is she?" Tai asked through clenched teeth.

"With Ken" Yolie spoke up.

Before Tai could attack Yolie as well, four beeping sounds were heard. Tk, Davis, Yolie, and Cody took out their white computers. "An e-mail from Kari!" Davis exclaimed.

**Digidestined,**

**Seeing you all run like cowards rather than face defeat with dignity was a very disappointing to me. You are just prolonging what is inevitable. The girl is safe, for now. Have all the digidestined meet up in your computer lab tomorrow morning. 10 a.m. All of you show up, including the older morons, otherwise the next time you see the girl, she won't be in such good condition. Tomorrow, I will tell you the circumstances that will assure you that she stays out of harms way. Be there, 10 a.m., OR ELSE.**

**The Digimon Kaiser.**

Tk read the e-mail over several times. Tai was breathing over his shoulder and looked like he was trying to read Latin. "How could this have happened?" He asked the young blonde who merely shrugged.

"So what do we do now?" Davis asked.

"We call up all of the digidestined and tell them to have their asses here at ten tomorrow. Yolie, I'm going to tell my parents that Kari is spending the night at your house." Yolie nodded her head to Tai.

"We're going to get her back. And if Ken touches so much as one hair on her head, he'll be in a world of pain," Matt said, trying to calm both his brother and his best friend. (a/n Sadly I'm not going to make this a Yakari, so I'm not going to torture Yama by making it one-sided. And I am NOT putting him with Sora because I personally can't stand Sorato. He's just too good for her. I stick her with Tai generally so that she doesn't get in the way :) ok…back to the story)

"Yeah, tomorrow we'll kick his sorry ass and have Kari back safe and sound!" Davis lifted Demiveemon to his eyes. "You're with me, right buddy?"

"Of course Davish!"

"I'm going to start making phone calls then," Yolie said with a sigh.

Kari opened her eyes and let them slowly come into focus. She was freezing, probably because she was dripping wet from the fall. A large gash from the Blacktyranomon's tail went across her left thigh and was bleeding badly. Feeling a pair of eyes on her, Kari looked up and saw the Kaiser leaning against the wall, arms crossed, staring at her intensely.

"Where the hell am I?" Kari demanded.

"You're in one of the cells in my dungeon" he replied, taking a step towards her. She pulled herself into a sitting position and backed herself away from him until she was against the wall. She hissed in pain as she tried to move her right arm. "You shouldn't move too much, your shoulder is dislocated."

"That would have been helpful before hand." Her eyes widened as the Kaiser came even closer to her and sat down on the bed. "Stay away from me!"

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said in and almost gentle tone.

"You aren't?"

"Of course not, you'd be of no use to me if you were dead."

"What are you planning on doing with me then?"

"You are going to help me take control over the entire Digital World."

"I'd never help you. You don't deserve to even be able to come to the Digiworld!" She pushed herself against the wall as Ken extended his arms out. "Stay away from me!"

"Hold still!" he commanded. She complied, but only because it hurt her too much to move. He felt her upper arm, making her flinch. He glared at Kari before forcing the joint back into position. She grabbed her arm and screamed in pain. "I wasn't asking for your help. So long as you're my prisoner, I have all the other digidestined under my control. Remember that, you are MY prisoner, and I can do whatever I want with you!" The Kaiser waited for a reaction of some sort, but Kari fell forward and her head rested on his shoulder. He was surprised at first, but quickly realized that she had passed out; probably from having her arm forced back into the correct position.

_**This could end up being quite interesting. **I thought you just wanted her dead.** That hasn't changed, but that doesn't mean we can't make our time together worth the while. **No! **Oh come on Ken, you know you want her…** You're not going to win this one! Leave her alone!_

After Ken's little battle with himself, he laid Kari back on the bed and stood to leave. "What is it?" He asked, not bothering to turn and look at the little green digimon he knew was there.

"Aren't you going to clean her injuries or give her some dry clothes? She needs a blanket and some food and fresh air and-"

"If you care so much then I'll put you in charge of her; just don't do anything stupid that you'll both end up regretting. Do you understand me?" Wormmon nodded and watched as Ken's cape brushed past him. He jumped up on the end of the bed and waited for Kari to awaken.

What do you think so far? I think it really sucks that there aren't more KaiKari's, KenKari's, and Yakari's around. I'm writing a few Yakari's and have like a bazillion ideas, but I don't have too much time to write them. But I will finish them! Reviews would make it that much easier (hint, hint)

R&R NOW! Opinions, comments, suggestions, flames, w/e, just send something. Pretty please?

Jillie062


	2. Demands

If you are reading this than perhaps my fan fic isn't too terrible? Well anyway, just as a reminder…

Thoughts that are strictly Ken's are _like so_, thoughts that are only the Kaiser's are **_like so._** It will make more sense later. Ken usually listens to the voice because it has control over him. He doesn't often fight it, and when he does, he usually loses.

This is a Ken/Kari and there will be some violence, not-too graphic romance scenes (not a lime or lemon), and possible strong use of language.

Please enjoy chapter two!

**Shattered**

**Chapter Two: Demands**

As Kari awoke once more, she felt something resting alongside her feet. For a moment she thought she was home in bed, Gatomon curled up at the end of her bed, but the intense pain in her leg and shoulder, along with a killer headache and hunger pains, brought her back to reality. She lifted her head slightly and saw a green worm digimon sleeping lightly beside her. She groaned and dropped her head back down.

The groan from Kari awoke Wormmon. He jumped up immediately, cursing himself for falling asleep. He looked up at the girl whose hair was still damp from the previous day. She looked at him, eyes reflecting fear but her face neutral. "Um, hello there. My name is Wormmon. What's yours?"

She stared into the little green digimon's eyes. "Kari," she answered finally.

"Are you hungry? Cold? Hurt? I have to wrap your leg and I can probably find some human medicine, I'm a terrible cook but I can handle basic things, and-"

"Why do you want to help me? Aren't I just a prisoner?"

"I can't just leave you as is. Don't worry I'll be back soon with some food and a blanket and some medical supplies. And you aren't just a prisoner, you're a guest!" Before Kari could comment on the last remark, Wormmon had jumped down and was calling for the guard to unlock the cell door for him. He gave one last reassuring smile before disappearing.

He made his way through the dungeon and up to the main room. Ken was there, pacing back and forth. "Nine thirty, almost time," he muttered to himself. The screens which usually displayed different areas of the digiworld, now showed the computer lab, a spare room in the base, and what looked like a room in a person's house.

"Ken?" Wormmon asked timidly.

"What do you want, I'm busy."

"I just thought you'd like to know that Kari is awake."

"That's wonderful, really. Just answer me one question, why do I care? I told you I'm busy, go away." _You really should lighten up on him. He does do a lot around here. And why don't I care? She is the main part of this entire plan. **Oh shut up, we need to leave.**_ Ken began typing furiously on his computer, setting coordinates to open up the digiport in a specific location. "Now I just have to set up the camera, good now I'm ready. Digiport open!" Ken, along with four Floramon, was sucked into the portal.

(0)

"He's late!" Taichi growled to whoever was listening. "'Mr. Reliable' has to be late when we need him most."

"I'm so sorry I'm late Tai, has anything happened?" Joe rushed into the computer room, meeting nine forlorn faces.

"No, it's 10:05 and nothing." Tai answered. He began pacing back and forth around the room anxiously, running a hand through his thick brown locks.

Just as Sora was about to yell at Tai to stand still, the computer monitor clicked on and Ken was seen on the other side. "Greetings Digidestined, I trust all of you will pay close attention and comply with all my demands- if you want the girl to remain safe then you'd better."

"You bastard! When I get my hands on you I'm going to strangle the life out of you! Where's Hikari, if she's hurt I swear I'll-"

"Oh save me your little speech. I have far more important things to do than stand here listening to you. If you want your sister to remain safe then you can never return to the digital world." Ken folded his arms over his chest and looked through the screen at the others. Most of them tried to keep their expressions neutral, Taichi was red-faced from being so flustered, and Davis and Tk were sending death glares towards the monitor.

"Hey Tai, isn't that your computer room?" Yamato asked.

Tai peered at the screen before recoiling in shock. "How did you get into my house?"

"It is of no concern to you. I had to collect a few things for my guest. Ugh, does your sister wear anything that isn't pink?" A Floramon had set a duffle bag full of clothing beside the Kaiser to take back with them. Ken looked at the pink shirts disgustedly. "No matter, do you agree or will I have to make myself a little clearer?"

"I want to know for sure that she isn't hurt before we agree. No deal unless I know she's safe," Tai responded.

"Very well. One of you may pass through the portal. No digimon. Only one of the newer digidestined. I'll send the coordinates to be set in a few minutes. No tricks…or else." The screen went black.

"Ugh!" Taichi screamed in frustration.

"Calm down Tai, everything will work out." Matt patted his friend's shoulder reassuringly.

"How?" Yolie jumped in. "We don't get Hikari back until we agree to stay out of the Digiworld. The digimon will either be stuck here or we won't see them again. Ken will take over the Digital World while we sit around doing nothing."

"It'll be worth it to get her back," Tk spat. "I'm going." No one protested to this. Davis would have if Matt hadn't covered his mouth with his hand, silencing him.

A set of coordinates appeared on the screen. "Alright Tk, bring her back for me." Tk nodded his head towards Tai before lifting his digivice to the screen and disappearing through the portal.

(0)

Tk came out of the portal and saw Ken with his arms folded over his chest. He started to run at him but a veggiemon wrapped his arms around Tk, sending him to the ground. He struggled to get up on his knees. Ken went around him and began tying a blindfold around his eyes. "What are you doing?" Tk hissed as he tried to stand.

"I don't want you seeing where my base is, of course. Now get moving." Ken pushed his foot against Tk's back, causing him to fall forward again. The veggiemon used his arms to lift Tk up and carry him over to Airdramon.

After what seemed like forever Tk felt himself being lifted up again. "Are you going to un-blindfold me, or what?" After being pushed through the door and hearing it slam shut, Tk felt Ken removing the blindfold.

"Don't do anything stupid," Ken advised as the veggiemon released Tk from his grip. Ken walked past Tk, silently ordering him to follow. Tk did so, taking in the scenery and trying to memorize the way they went. Ken stopped abruptly in the middle of a long corridor. "Wormmon, what are you doing?"

The tiny worm digimon was sitting on the floor, contently staring at nothing. Wormmon, still extremely happy because he had been able to use the toaster to make toast earlier in the morning for Hikari's breakfast, gave Ken a smile. Getting an angry sneer in response, the euphoric feeling went away. "I just cleaned up Hikari's wounds and-"

"She's hurt! When were you going to mention that?" Tk screamed.

"She did fall of a cliff," Ken responded calmly.

Tk balled up his fist and went to strike Ken. The Kaiser skillfully dodged him and sent a swift punch into Tk's stomach. Tk gasped for breathe and stumbled backwards. "That would qualify as something stupid" Ken hissed venomously.

Tk just glared at Ken. He held his stomach and painfully gasped for air. "Where is she?" He choked out.

Ken turned and continued down the corridor. He faintly listened to the footsteps behind him. **_You enjoyed that didn't you, Kenny?_**

Reaching Hikari's cell a moment later, Ken had the door opened. Kari looked up and gave him a defiant glare. She had changed out of her damp clothing into a pair of Capri's, making it obvious that her leg was bandaged. And she wore a short sleeve top, pink, of course. Her look softened and then became one of pure surprise when Tk walked into the room behind Ken. "Tk?"

"Kari!" Tk ran over to her and sat down beside her, hugging her tightly. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm okay."

Ken cleared his throat. "You have five minutes." He turned and walked out of the room, leaving the two alone. _**Is that jealousy you're feeling? Jealous of that twit, are you? **Of course not! That entire scene was nauseating, that's all. **Sure…**_

He walked back up to the control room and flipped on the computer screen. An image of Kari and Tk in the cell appeared.

"Hika, I'm so glad you're okay," Tk whispered, his voice choppy from fighting tears.

"What are you doing here, Tk? How'd you get here?"

"Ken brought me here. I needed to see that you were alright before making any deals with him."

"Deals? What are you talking about?" Hikari asked, pulling away from his embrace.

"We're going to surrender."

"WHAT? You can't do that! What about the Digital World?"

"It's the only way we can get you back. I'm not going to leave you with that lunatic."

Ken frowned. "A lunatic, am I?" He moved away from the screen. "Has it been five minutes yet?" he wondered aloud. "Close enough, I'm sure." He made his way back down, missing the rest of their conversation. "Undoubtedly confessing his love to her," he mused.

Ken had the cell door opened again and walked in the room. "Get up," he told Tk. Tk stood up defiantly, trying to appear taller than he was. "Get moving." Ken felt like he was directing a two-year-old.

"What about Hikari?"

"What about her?"

"She's coming too."

"Kari isn't going anywhere until I say so."

"Then neither am I!" Tk shouted.

Ken shook his head slightly. He whistled a long, high pitched sound, and the veggiemon from before came in. "Grab him."

The veggiemon shot his arms out and wrapped them around Tk. Kari tried to get up to help him, but Ken grabbed hold of her and held her back. He threw her onto the bed and quickly darted out of the room, the door slamming behind him. Tk was practically dragged down the corridors, trying desperately to pry himself from the veggiemon's grip.

Having the blindfold replaced when they reached the door, Tk was blindly led out to the airdramon. After what seemed like another eternity, he felt Airdramon landing. Tk was shoved onto the ground and the blindfold was ripped off. The first thing he saw was Ken's fist connecting with his face.

Tk fell backwards. "What the hell!" he screamed.

"That was for being sure an annoyance. NOW GET OUT OF HERE!" Tk stood up and lunged at Ken, knocking them both down. Ken rolled them both over and punched Tk in the jaw. Tk turned his head and coughed up blood. He pushed Ken away from him before quickly getting to his feet. Ken kicked Tk in the stomach before he had a chance to set up a hit.

"You can't beat me," Ken taunted. "You're just going to get yourself hurt." Ken put his hand in his pocket, pulled something out, and tossed it to Tk.

"My D3! How did you get that?"

"I took it off you when you got here. Take and open the portal."

Tk shook his head. "I'm not leaving without Hikari."

Ken clenched his fists. He turned around, pulling out his own black D3 and shouted "Digiport Open!" He grabbed the back of Tk's collar and pushed him towards the TV screen. Tk disappeared from the Digiworld.

(0)

Tk groaned as his face hit the cold computer room floor. He stood up, ignoring Tai's questioning eyes, and held his D3 up. "Digiport Open!"

Nothing happened.

"Digiport Open!"

Nothing.

"Open, god damn you!"

Matt grabbed Tk's shoulder and whirled him around to face him. He took a moment to look at Tk's bloody face. "What happened?" he asked his little brother.

"He's not going to let her go…"

Well that's it for the second chapter. How'd I do? I want to thank everyone who reviewed chapter one, you rock! And I'm sure you're going to review as soon as you're done reading this. R&R NOW! Opinions, comments, suggestions, flames, w/e, just send something. Pretty please?

Right nooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwww… 

Jillie062


	3. Prisoner or Guest?

You clicked on the button for the next chapter! Hooray!

Please note: Thoughts that are strictly Ken's are _like so_, thoughts that are only the Kaiser's are **_like so._** It will make more sense later. Ken usually listens to the voice because it has control over him. He doesn't often fight it, and when he does, he usually loses.

It's probably important to mention that most of his speech and actions are based on the Kaiser's thoughts. (Except when he first punched Tk at the base, that was all Ken!)

This is a Ken/Kari and there will be some violence, not-too graphic romance scenes (not a lime or lemon), and possible strong use of language.

**Shattered**

**Chapter Three: Prisoner or Guest?**

"Digiport Open! Work you lousy mother f-"

"Tk!" Matt shouted. "Calm down!"

"He did something to my D3. It won't work. Davis, you try."

Davis looked hesitant. "What happened, Ts?"

"OPEN THE DAMN GATE!"

Davis hopped off the table and stood in front of the computer. After sending Matt a concerned look, he held up his D3. "Digiport open…"

Nothing happened.

"Shit!" Tk pounded his fist on the table before sinking down to the ground.

"Tell me what happened" Tai pleaded.

Tk took in a deep breathe. His throat was dry and it stung from wanting to cry so badly. "When I got to the Digiworld, Ken blindfolded me and we flew to his base. He has Kari in a cell in the dungeon. Her leg was cut up pretty badly; from the fall, I think. She's okay, though. I'm so sorry, Taichi. He won't let her go. He only let me talk to her for five minutes! After, he blindfolded me again and we went back to the gate. We got in a fight," Tk paused to take a breath. "He must have altered the programming of my D3 so I can't go back."

Tai's face had visibly been drained of color while he listened to Tk. "I thought we would get her back if we agreed. That's what he said. Izzy?"

Izzy looked up from his laptop, already three steps ahead of Tai. "Her D3 must have been tampered with as well. It doesn't show her being anywhere in the Digital World."

Tk pulled the D-terminal from his pocket. (a/n is that what the white computer is called?)

He began typing an e-mail and sent it to Kari. "If he has her computer, than he'll get the message."

(0)

Ken had just arrived back at the base and walked into the control room when he heard a beeping sound. Kari's D-terminal was lying on the table, emitting an annoying beeping sound. Ken snatched it up and read the e-mail.

**Ken, you lying bastard! You said if we agreed to stay out of the Digiworld that we would get Kari back safely. What the hell did you do to my D-3? I'll find a way to come after you, I'll get her back!**

Ken couldn't help but smirk. "My, my, Tk, you're better off being a lover than a fighter. Threaten me, will you?" He quickly typed a response.

(0)

Not five minutes after Tk sent the e-mail, a return message was forwarded. "You got through? What did he say?" Tai looked over Tk's shoulder much like he had the previous day.

**I made no agreements to return the girl. I said she would remain safe if you complied with my demands. As for your D-3, I installed a virus that was triggered when you went through the gate. None of you can pass through any longer. Kari will be staying with me so don't bother trying to fix it or I will hurt her.**

Tai grabbed the computer from Tk's hands.

**I'll find a way to get my sister back! You will pay dearly for what you've done to her. I swear that if you hurt her in any way, I will give it back to you ten fold.**

Tai waited and stared at the D-terminal intently. He was concentrating so hard that the beeping made him jump.

**System Error:**

**The e-mail you have tried to reach is no longer in this system. Please make sure no spelling errors have been made before trying again.**

"He deleted the account!"

Tai held the D-terminal over his head as if to smash it on the ground but Matt grabbed him from behind. "Tk still needs that! The digiegg of Hope is in there. Stop being so impulsive!"

Tai wrenched himself free from Matt's grip. He set the D-terminal down on the table in an overly obnoxious way before standing straight and punching Matt in the jaw. Matt had half expected that Tai would do this so he was partially able to keep his ground. "Just like when we were younger. You'll never grow up!" Matt threw a punch at Tai and they both fell to the floor. (a/n you have no idea how much I want to make this Yakarifiable, it's driving me crazy!)

"Oh, so if Tk had been kidnapped you'd be perfectly fine?" Tai asked, knocking Matt backwards.

The two boys stood up. "Of course not," Matt screamed. "But I wouldn't be acting like a five-year-old. Fighting me won't help her!"

Taichi glared at Matt. He was right, of course, but Tai couldn't admit to that. He poised himself to lunge at Matt when a white ball of fur jumped into his arms. "Gatomon?"

Gatomon hadn't said anything since they'd been in the computer lab. None of the digimon had said much, but she had been completely silent until now. "Please don't fight, Taichi, Kari hates it when you fight."

Tai held the trembling cat close to him. His desire to inflict pain on Yamato had all but disappeared. "I'm sorry Gatomon."

No one had much to say beyond this point. The only sound in the room was the mixture of Gatomon's cries, Tk's sniffles, and Tai and Matt's heavy breathing.

(0)

Ken's eyes shifted from monitor to monitor. The desert areas were completely covered by his network of spires. All of the snowy areas were under his control. Most of the cities were occupied by his controlled digimon. One monitor in the far left corner showed a room in the Kaiser's base. It was the room being prepared for Hikari. The Kaiser stared at it for a moment before deliberately shutting it off.

_**If I'd known this girl would be such a distraction I wouldn't have brought her. Concentrate on the matter at hand. **It's not like we're in a rush anymore; there's no one to stop us now that the gate has been sealed off. **That doesn't matter; we're days behind schedule now. Stop thinking about her and get to work!**_ The Kaiser pushed all thoughts about Hikari out of Ken's mind. It wasn't long however, until she was put back into it.

"My Lord, Emperor, Sir, you asked me to inform you when the bed chamber was prepared." A small Floramon scratched her head nervously as the Kaiser sent her a deadly glare. "Well, um, it's ready." The Floramon took off down the hallway and out of sight.

Ken stood from the chair in front of the monitors. _**Sit down! You have work to do. Worry about the girl later! **What's the big deal? It'll be less than five minutes for me to go down and take her to her room. **She's not the major concern here, Ken. Take over the Digital World and than accommodate to her. Sit down.**_

A sharp pain flashed through Ken's head as he fought with himself. Now he remembered why he listened to the voice in the first place. Those damn headaches felt like he was being stabbed. With a heavy sigh, Ken sat down and began typing again. The throbbing pain began to dull as he took in large gulps of air and rubbed his temples. Ken got back to work, Kari completely pushed out of his mind.****

It was about ten pm when Wormmon came running into the control room. "Ken!" Ken said nothing. "Ken! Ken? KEN!" Ken continued to work on his computer. "Master?" Wormmon asked timidly.

"What do you want, Wormmon?"

"It's just that the human girl, Hikari, I think she has fallen ill."

Ken was taken over by a wave of concern. He stood up, knocking the chair over in the process. He made it out of the room and through several corridors before the Kaiser voiced his disapproval. **_Look at yourself, you're pathetic. Running to her aid just because the little worm said she was sick. I am the Kaiser! You are the Kaiser! Your feelings make you weak. Her wellbeing is not your main concern._**

Ken was in no mood to hear the Kaiser. He ignored him, bringing back the painful headache. Ken collapsed on his knees and grabbed his head. _You aren't going to win this one. Just let me check up on her. _

"Ken, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Wormmon, just keep going." Ken dragged himself to his feet and the nauseating headache intensified. When he opened the cell door, however, and saw Hikari lying there, the Kaiser stopped his efforts to keep Ken away.

Ken walked over to where Hikari was. A shiver ran through his body when he did so. "Is it always this cold in here?" he asked himself.

"Yes," Wormmon verified.

Ken took off his glove and placed the back of his hand against her forehead. "Fever…" he mumbled. He slid his hands underneath Kari's body and picked her up. _She looks so fragile.** Easily broken.** That's not what I meant.** You have feelings for this girl-** I do not!** Ken, I know your thoughts and emotions, I know you like her.** Okay, maybe I do, so what?** Haven't you learned by now that love and friendship only make you weak? **So you keep telling me.** And I'm right!**_

Ken had never been in such a conflict with himself as he'd been in the last two days. He never had a reason to argue with the Kaiser before; at least not a reason he felt so strongly for. But Hikari? He barely knew the girl. She was his sworn enemy, and yet, there was something about her couldn't help but like.

The Kaiser wanted to hate this girl with a passion. At the same time, however, he felt something for Kari. Maybe it was Ken's feelings getting mixed with his own, maybe it was the fact that he could dominate her so long as she was his prisoner. He wanted to conquer her. Make her his personal slave. Maybe it was just lust that drove his conflicting feelings. Either way, Kari was getting in the way of his plans. He would have to put her in her place. The problem was that Ken would fight him about it, and he couldn't risk the possibility of Ken regaining control. (a/n does this make a whole lot of sense? I'm gonna elaborate more later, but if you're completely and utterly confused, let me know so I can explain better A-SAP. That means review!)

After carrying Kari away from the cell area, he made his way to the room he had prepared for her. Kari groaned and unconsciously drew her hand up around his neck. She awoke as Ken was laying her on the bed.

"How are you feeling?" Ken asked in a genuine tone of concern.

Hikari realized that she was half in Ken's arms and pulled away from him. "I'm fine," she lied.

"You aren't fine, you have a fever."

"So what? Like you actually care…"

Ken sighed. "I'm going to get a warm washcloth for your forehead. Are you hungry?"

"I'd probably just throw it up anyway." She gave him a suspicious look. "What's with you suddenly being concerned with my wellbeing? I thought that I was just your prisoner-" Hikari paused just as she went into coughing fit.

"Get some rest," Ken said, avoiding the question. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

True to his word, Ken returned to Kari's room with a warm washcloth a few minutes later. He stopped to take a few aspirin for his headache before returning to her. Although Ken wasn't arguing with the Kaiser, the dull throbbing hadn't gone away from when he had.

"Here," he said, handing her a glass of water and a few Advil. There were a few minutes of uncomfortable silence between them. Hikari lay down with the washcloth over her forehead as Ken sat in a chair he had pulled up by the bed, looking at anything but unable to meet her gaze.

"So are you going to tell me why you're suddenly so concerned?" Kari asked, obviously irritated. One minute he's a kidnapper, the next he's a vicious and arrogant bastard, and the next he could almost be considered human.

The Kaiser scolded Ken for not meeting her eyes. Finally, he looked up at her; neither he nor the Kaiser was able to comprehend the effect Hikari had on him. "Well, I figured that since you're going to be staying here a while, we could at least try to get along. Besides, you are kind of like a guest now. You can do as you please, except all the exits have guards and locked doors are locked for a reason. This room is yours, there's a bathroom connected to it."

"Let me get this straight: you kidnap me, and now you want me to be comfortable? So basically I'm a prisoner who's being treated like a guest?"

"More or less," Ken replied. "Get some rest."

(0)

Okay, I could go on, but I wanted to get this chapter up A-SAP because, well, I just did. Vacation starts in a few days and I want to get chapters 4 and 5 out. If anyone has any suggestions for where they'd like to see this going, I'm all ears. I already have the story, and the sequel, if people don't hate it too much, planned out, but I'd enjoy adding in any good ideas.

I'm also starting to plan out another story, after this one is done. Which would you prefer

1) A Yakari that becomes a KenKari: Even though Ken has realized the error of his ways and the digidestined were able to join up to defeat the final enemy, the digidestined never accepted Ken. When Ken transfers to the gang's high school, they don't make things easy for him. Only Kari wants to give him a chance. Overprotective boyfriend (that would be Matt) and brother (Tai, obviously) step in and create problems. Some sort of dark power comes after Kari and…. Well it would end up Ken/Kari but I can't give everything away.

2) A KenKari that becomes a Yakari: Ken and Kari become close because they both share a connection to the darkness. Ken gets pulled back into the dark world and breaks up with Kari. Yada, yada, yada, Matt and Kari get together and Ken, controlled by the darkness, tries to kidnap Kari…Matt must save the day.

Both of these summaries are pretty vague, but I don't want to give it all away. Please review this chapter and add in which idea you like better. Pretty please?

Jillie062


	4. A Good Look at the Enemy

I want to thank all of the people who reviewed so far cuz it's really nice knowing that people are actually reading this and think it doesn't totally suck. I have the entire story planned out now, but I kinda suck at transitions between major events. So if the story seems a bit jumpy or whatever, please, please, please, let me know so I can work on that.

Please note: Thoughts that are strictly Ken's are _like so_, thoughts that are only the Kaiser's are **_like so._** It should make more sense now. Ken usually listens to the voice because it has control over him. It's probably important to mention that most of his speech and actions are based on the Kaiser's thoughts.

This is a Ken/Kari and there will be some violence, not-too graphic romance scenes (not a lime or lemon), and possible strong use of language

**Shattered **

**Chapter Four: A Good Look at the Enemy**

Kari spent the majority of the next two days sleeping. Unless Ken woke her up to force her to eat something or Wormmon wanted to change her bandaging, she spent the time asleep. (Her leg was healing incredibly fast, because, by some strange stroke of luck, Wormmon's Sticky Thread had healing qualities.) And she got up to shower, as well.

Ken, on the other hand, slept very little. A technical complication had arisen in an area where there was a network of control spires, which took almost two days to sort out. When the problem was finally sorted out, Ken laid down to get some well deserved rest.

But his dreams were anything but peaceful.

_Ken found himself in a dark mist. The air was filled with the scent of salt water and a sharp breeze was blowing his hair into his face. Ken ran a hand through his hair in an attempt to dislodge it from his eyes. "My hair is straight, where am I?"_

_The sound of soft sobbing was carried by the wind to Ken's ears. He turned quickly, seeing a younger version of himself crying by the shore. The black mist pulled away from Ken's person, revealing to him an all too familiar scene._

_The Dark Ocean._

"_Why do they love Sam more than me?" he heard his younger self choke out. "Sam hates me and Mommy and Daddy too!" Ken saw a mass of what looked like black dirt dancing around in the wind. _

"_The dark spores!" Ken gasped. The younger Ken took no notice of the older boy's fright. Nor did he notice that the spores were coming ever closer; they were attracted to his sorrow. _

_In a flash, a spore had burrowed itself into the back of the seven-year-old's neck. Ken subconsciously rubbed the back of his neck when the younger boy yelped and grabbed the back of his._

_The mist surrounded him again. He could see nothing. The smell of salt water and the sound of the waves were dying down. A new noise entered his ears._

"_Hate him! Hate all of them! What does Sam have that you don't? Why are you living in his shadow like a nobody? That digivice belongs to you! Take it back!" Ken recognized the Kaiser's voice._

"_No, you're wrong! They don't hate me! Stop it! You're lying!" Ken smiled out of spite. How was it that his seven-year-old self able to suppress the darkness of the spore and resist the voice? _

_He knew, of course. But still, as if he needed a reminder, a new scene appeared in front of him; a funeral._

_Sam's funeral._

_Ken hadn't understood exactly why his brother was laying in a box. "Mommy," Little Ken whispered, tugging at his mother's black dress, "tell Sam to get up now, please?"_

_Mrs. Ichijoji didn't look her son in the eyes. She couldn't look at him when he looked so much like her dead son. "He isn't asleep, Ken," she hissed in a rather cold voice. "We're at his funeral. You're a smart boy; don't you know what that means?"_

_Ken had known, but he didn't want to believe it; especially since he had been secretly hoping that something would happen to his brother. Guilt made tears well up in his eyes. _

"_There, there, Ken. Don't feel bad that you wanted your brother dead. He was a bad brother who took your parents away from you. They should have been looking after you instead of Sam."_

"_Why are you saying these things?"_

"_Because I want to help you…"_

"_Help me? How? I just want this pain to go away."_

"_I can do that. I can make it so you don't feel any pain. I can help you reach your full potential and fulfill your destiny!"  
_

"_But how?"_

"_Don't block me out anymore. I'm a part of you now, Ken. If you ignore me, it will hurt you. If you let me help you, we can achieve greatness together! People will listen to what you say and you will be ten times what your brother was."_

_Ken watched as years went by in fast-forward, slowing down every so often so Ken could see the consequences of not listening to the voice. A lost soccer match; a failed test; pain and misery; nothing was right when we wasn't in 'sync with it. And those agonizing headaches. _

_Ken slowly began to realize that he needed the Kaiser now. "What would you do if I left you on your own Ken?" _

_Ken turned around and saw the image of him when he was in the Digital World. "Kaiser…"_

"_That's right, Ken. I thought I needed to remind you of all the things I've done for you. I made you strong and smart and athletic. I understand your pain and keep it from consuming you. Now you see, you need me. What would you do if I was gone?"_

_Ken fell to his knees as a rush of guilt and agony wrenched at his heart. The pain was unbearable. Years of suppressed emotions attacked him and it burned him. "Make it stop! Please, make it stop!"_

_The Kaiser laughed at the teen at his feet. "So you do still want me around then?" Ken nodded weakly. "Very well. I trust you'll remember what will happen if I go the next time I tell you to do something."_

"_Yes," he choked out. "I will, I'll remember. Just make the pain go away." The Kaiser smirked as Ken's image began to fade into the shadows of his own mind._

"_I'm back in control…"_

(0)

Kari tossed and turned uncomfortably. "I can't take it anymore!" she whispered. She had been lying in bed for two days and needed to get up and move around. She stared longingly at the barred window that didn't let nearly enough light in. "Unless I was delirious, Ken did say I could go where I wanted around the base."

She threw the covers off of herself and let her feet swing over the side of her bed. A shiver ran down her spine when her feet touched the cold stone floor. Grabbing a pair of socks and a hoodie, Kari departed the room.

It was still dark out and Kari had no idea where she was going. After wandering aimlessly for a while, the glow of several idle computers drew her attention. She walked into the control room, careful to avoid making any unnecessary noise.

A smile played at the corners of Hikari's mouth. Lying on a table was her D-terminal. "Why would Ken be so careless as to leave it lying about?" she asked herself. Truthfully, she didn't care. She grabbed her D-terminal before turning and running out of the room. After a few wrong turns, Kari made it back to her room.

(0)

The Kaiser still had a cynical smile on his face when he awoke. Ken's body was shaking from his nightmare, but the Kaiser was completely composed. He got up and dressed quickly. His cape swished behind him when he left his personal chambers.

When he walked into the control room, Ken pushed a button and all of the idle computers came back up. Ken noticed in the surveillance camera that Kari was slipping back into her room. "What is she doing up and about at this hour?" Ken looked in the right-hand corner of one of his computers. It was not quite six in the morning yet. Ken decided to check out what she had been up to.

He took long strides to her chambers until stopping abruptly at her door. After one sharp knock, and without bothering to wait for an answer from Kari, Ken pushed the door open. Kari was leaning against the window sill, looking out past the barred window.

She turned quickly, pulling her hands behind her back. "Uh, hi."

"You're up early," Ken noted, leaning his body against the doorframe and crossing his arms over his chest.

"I did sleep for two days," she said quietly.

"You're feeling better then?"

"Yeah…"

**_Hmm, she's acting stranger than usual. She's hiding something from me._** The Kaiser waited for Ken to respond, but nothing came. "Now what could you be up to?" he asked, moving closer to her.

"Up to?" she asked nervously. "Well, actually, I was kind of hoping that we could maybe go outside?"

"So you can try to run away?" he sneered.

"Where would I run to, Ken?" she snapped. "I am the Digidestined of Light; I do tend to like the sunlight!"

"Don't use that tone with me!" he shouted, grabbing onto her arms. "I gave you too much credit for having some intelligence."

Hikari scowled and forced her arms free. She turned from Ken and brought her hands in front of her. "Where are you going?" he demanded.

"Home."

"You think so?"

"You said I could go wherever I wanted. I want to go home!"

Ken grabbed her and turned her around. She quickly threw her arms behind her again. "You know what I meant," he hissed.

"Obviously not, obviously I'm not as intelligent as you thought."

The Kaiser was getting really pissed off now. **_She's mocking me!_** "Let me make myself a little clearer then. You go when I say you go!" Ken noticed that she had been making quite an attempt to keep her hands concealed from him. "What are you hiding?"

"N-nothing…"

Ken grabbed her arm and pulled it in front of her. **_The D-terminal! How could I have been so idiotic as to leave it sitting out!_**

Ken grabbed Kari's wrist and wrenched the computer from her hands. "Hey!" she shouted, "that's mine!"

"Not anymore," he answered. Kari struggled to get free from the Kaiser's grip.

He was hurting her.

He could see the fear in her eyes as she fought him.

He liked it.

He pushed her against the wall and grabbed her other wrist. She tried to turn her body to the side so Ken pressed his body against her, pinning her flat against the wall. He raised her arms above her head. "Let go!" she screamed.

The Kaiser still heard nothing from Ken. He smirked, very pleased with how the morning had started. Ken was behaving himself and Kari was well on her way to being broken and defeated.

"Get off of me you goddamn sadistic bastard!"

Ken rearranged his hands so that he was holding both of Kari's wrists with one and brought the other down to place a finger over Kari's lips. "Shhhh" he whispered. "The Digidestined of Light shouldn't say such harsh things. It isn't right."

"Screw you!" she retorted.

"Now, now," he said, in an unusually calm voice, "there will be plenty of time for that later, my pet."

"I'm not your pet!" Kari hissed. "You sick, conniving-"

Ken leaned in close to her, his breaths landing on her cheek. "Enough of that, now. You are my pet, you belong to me now…"

Kari tried to knee Ken. Seeing that she had come dangerously close to inflicting pain onto his groin, his amusement quickly shifted to anger. He let go of her and backed away. Looking as if he was going to walk away, Ken turned slightly, but whipped back around and smacked Kari hard across the face. She landed on the ground with a thud.

The Kaiser looked like he was going to lunge at her, but his body stopped obeying him. _That's enough! I'm not going to sit around and let you use my body to beat her!_ The Kaiser inwardly sighed. He turned and walked out of the room and locked the door behind him. He heard Kari banging on the other side of door shouting for him to unlock it. He didn't comply.

(0)

Kari sat on the bed for a long while just thinking. She sat there, gingerly rubbing the red mark on her face and watching as bruises began to decorate her wrists. She just didn't understand Ken. Maybe she had just imagined a nicer version of Ken; she did have a fever, after all. No, she knew she had witnessed a softer side to him. Maybe Ken had dissociated personality disorder and she had met another of Ken's personalities. No, he wouldn't have gone by the name Ken; she would have been talking to Bob or Larry or Janice.

What was she missing? At that point, Kari would have been content saying he was bipolar and gone about hating him for letting it control him. But she knew that his problem wasn't medical. Sure, Ken was crazy, that much was obvious, but he didn't have just a chemical disorder. She couldn't just hate him when she didn't understand him completely.

Furthermore, she could feel the darkness that clouded his mind. He wasn't completely evil. There was some light in him. It was dim and it was tainted, but she could feel it calling out to her. That damn gift of hers; she could tell that he was veiled in darkness, but her powers weren't developed well enough to be of any actual help.

While Kari sat thinking, there was one thing that didn't make any sense to her. Why exactly did she care? Why did she want to help her worst enemy?

The door creaked open. "Kari, may I come in?" Kari jumped at the sound.

"Oh, Wormmon, you scared me. Come on in."

"I knocked but you must not have heard me. Oh my! What happened?" Wormmon jumped up onto the bed and looked at the red mark on her face. "I can get something for that."

Kari smiled at the little insectoid digimon. He was always so kind to her. "I'm fine, really."

Wormmon's face grew serious. "Did Ken do this?"

Kari looked away from him. "Yeah…" The worm digimon opened his mouth but Kari cut him off. "Please don't start, Wormmon. I know you think that I should feel honored or whatever for being here, but I don't. Ken's so mean to you, why do you stay with him willingly?"

Wormmon's voice was hollow and mournful. "If you knew Ken before everything happened, you would understand. He needs me."

"What happened?"

"I shouldn't say, Ken would be angry."

"Please, Wormmon? I know there's something not right with Ken. Something dark has a hold on him."

Wormmon nodded. "Okay, I'll tell you. When Ken was seven a digivice was sent to him. His brother, Sam, thought that the digivice was meant for him and not Ken, so he took it from him. Ken was never very happy when he was a child, always in his brother's shadow. Someone, I don't know who, tricked Ken into stealing the digivice back. He was sent to the Dark Ocean.

"In the Dark Ocean, he was infected by a dark spore. For a while, he was able to suppress the dark force that had entered his mind. But, after Sam died, Ken's misery intensified and he began hearing a voice. I told him not to listen to it, and he didn't for a while. But soon it became physically painful for him not to listen. I watched as the voice, the Kaiser you now know, took control and pushed Ken back. So you see, it isn't really Ken's fault that he's like this."

"I didn't know that Ken even had a brother, or that he had gone to the Dark Ocean."

"Yes, I've never been there myself, but I've heard terrible things about it." Kari nodded in agreement. "You know, I've noticed that Ken has been fighting for control more and more these days."

"You could have fooled me," she said bitterly, rubbing her cheek.

Wormmon laughed nervously. "Seriously, I've never seen him take so many Advil in his life as he has since you've gotten here."

"So what, he gets headaches?"

"Yes, but more importantly, he gets headaches when he disagrees with the voice."

"Okay, so he disagrees with the Kaiser, that doesn't mean he does anything about it!"

Wormmon sighed. Couldn't Kari see that she was the key to saving Ken?

(0)

_I want you to go away for a while. ** Excuse me? **I want to be in complete control of my body…just for a little while. **And what about me?** You are always planning something, you can do that, you don't need any control to do that.** Fine, but if anything goes wrong than I'm taking over!**_

The Kaiser decided to humor Ken. No doubt he wanted to try to get on Kari's good side without his interference. That was fine with him, he had work to do that he didn't need Ken knowing about.

Ken looked down at his hands. It felt good to be in control of his own body. He didn't need the Kaiser flying off the handle and hurting Kari or Wormmon. He walked down to Kari's room for the second time that day.

"What do you want?" Kari hissed as soon as he opened the door. Ken saw the red mark on her cheek and inwardly cringed. _You can do this, just keep calm._

He held the door open. "Are you coming or not?"

"Where?" she inquired, still suspicious of him. She wondered who it was she was talking to.

"You said you wanted to go outside. It'll be sunset soon so it's now or never."

Hikari couldn't help but smile. She could feel the dark presence that surrounded Ken was pushed down. She had a chance to get through to him!

(0)

They sat on a hill for a long time, just watching the sun as it began to set. Hikari, tired of waiting for Ken to give her the answers that she knew he wasn't going to give, decided to take a chance and get some answers for herself. "So… who am I with right now?"

Ken gave her a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, who are you right now?"

"I'm only one person…" _Does she know?_ Ken searched his mind to see if the Kaiser was listening in. Thankfully, the Kaiser was no where to be found.

"I know that there's something or someone in your head. I'm just wondering who it is I'm talking to. The Dark, the Light, or maybe both?"

_Did she just call me the Light? Wait, no, that isn't important, how could she know?_ "You must be confused." _Why am I denying it?_

"Ken, you've done a complete three-sixty personality switch…again. Besides, I can _feel_ the darkness that is a part of you. It's pushed down further than usual. So can I assume that you're just Ken?"

"Yeah, it's just me. You can feel it?"

"Yep, and it's the reverse of what it's usually like."

Ken sighed. "I'm usually the one who's pushed back," he admitted. _I can't tell her these things! Stupid, stupid!_

"You just sit around and let the Kaiser do whatever he pleases?"

"No, I try to mediate his actions-"

"You could have fooled me," Kari muttered, feeling her cheek.

"He isn't usually so impulsive. I didn't see that one coming."

"Neither did I" she said. "So if you're the mediator than there must be some agreement in your actions."

Ken didn't like what she was getting at. "Yes, we find a way to agree."

"So trying to take over the Digital World and hurting my friends, you've given the okay for that?" Kari hoped that she was reaching Ken's conscious and making him feel guilty.

_I knew this conversation was going the wrong way._ He didn't have anything to say, what could he say? "Well, um, it could be worse. It's not like I've actually hurt any of your, uh, friends."

"You've hurt countless digimon, not to mention Wormmon! And you went after Tk."

"I-I don't like Tk."

"Why not!"

"Because, your boyfriend is an ass!"

"First off, Tk isn't my boyfriend. Secondly, you are the biggest ass I know!"

_At least she's being honest with me. Hey! She isn't dating Tk!_ Ken could care less right then that Kari had insulted him. Ken did a little cheer in his head. _She isn't dating Tk! _"Well," he continued after regaining his composure, "I still don't like him."

Kari scoffed at his remark and silence fell between them. "You may not want it, but I'm going to help you."

"You're right; I don't want your help." _I don't deserve it._

"Well, too bad, Ken. You aren't evil and you can't let evil control you!"

"Yes I am," he whispered sullenly. _I've let things go this far, I let my hatred consume me. I can't be helped._ Ken stood up. "It's getting late; we need to get back to the base.

Kari took the hand that Ken offered her. "I'm not giving up on you," she said as she followed him to the Airdramon.

(0)

Oh wow, this chapter was a toughie! I had a really hard time trying to make a sort of filler chapter and (hopefully) explaining what happened to Ken. And it's my longest chapter yet! If you've never reviewed, or you do review because you rock, please tell me how I did on this chapter, even if I never hear from you again 

Once again…

I'm also starting to plan out another story, after this one is done. Which would you prefer

1) A Yakari that becomes a KenKari: Even though Ken has realized the error of his ways and the digidestined were able to join up to defeat the final enemy, the digidestined never accepted Ken. When Ken transfers to the gang's high school, they don't make things easy for him. Only Kari wants to give him a chance. Overprotective boyfriend (that would be Matt) and brother (Tai, obviously) step in and create problems. Some sort of dark power comes after Kari and…. Well it would end up Ken/Kari but I can't give everything away.

2) A KenKari that becomes a Yakari: Ken and Kari become close because they both share a connection to the darkness. Ken gets pulled back into the dark world and breaks up with Kari. Yada, yada, yada, Matt and Kari get together and Ken, controlled by the darkness, tries to kidnap Kari…Matt must save the day.

Both of these summaries are pretty vague, but I don't want to give it all away. Please review this chapter and add in which idea you like better. Pretty please?

Special thanks to kazetatsu and The Aubrey for your helpful reviews. I hope this chapter was less confusing, and, yes, Yakari is the ultimate coupling!

Jillie062


	5. Unwelcome Visitors

Um I'm pretty sure this isn't necessary but… Please note: Thoughts that are strictly Ken's are _like so_, thoughts that are only the Kaiser's are **_like so._** It should make more sense now. Ken usually listens to the voice because it has control over him. It's probably important to mention that most of his speech and actions are based on the Kaiser's thoughts.

This is a Ken/Kari and there will be some violence, not-too graphic romance scenes (not a lime or lemon), and possible strong use of language.

**Shattered**

**Chapter Five: Unwelcome Visitors**

"There is still no word on the whereabouts of Hikari Kamiya, the sixteen-year-old that disappeared nearly a month ago. Hikari was reported missing after she failed to return home from a friend's house on June twenty-seventh. No leads have been followed and no suspects have been questioned. The family asks that anyone who may have any helpful information step forward. In a related story, Ken Ichijoji, the 'boy genius' as he is commonly referred, has been missing for nearly six months. Police believe that Ken had planned out his own disappearance and the case has gone nowhere. For JPN News Network, this is Kow Shippton, goodnight."

Taichi violently clicked off the television with the remote. He sighed deeply. Tai and the others had decided that telling everyone what really happened was out of the question and agreed on not saying anything at all. This proved easier said than done, but Tai couldn't walk up to his mother and tell her that he had known about his sister's kidnapping, who did it, and where she was. Not even the most understanding of mothers would have gotten that.

The sound of his mother sobbing in her bedroom made Tai cringe. He pulled himself off the couch and went to see her. "Mom?"

"Oh! Taichi, I was just um…"

"Its okay mom, Kari is going to be just fine."

"How can you be so sure? She's been gone for almost a month now! She could be hurt or even dead!" Mrs. Kamiya broke into a new fit of sobs.

"I know she's alright, mom. Kari's a big girl; she'll look after herself until we can find her." The phone rang, causing both Tai and his mother to jump. "Who'd be calling at eleven? I'll answer it."

Tai walked out of his mother's room and picked up the cordless from the coffee table. "Hello?"

"Tai, I'm sorry 'bout calling so late but I wanted you to tell me how much you love me."

"Izzy, is that you? Have you gone insane?" Tai was mildly disgusted.

"No, I've just found us a way back into the Digiworld. I've already called everyone and they're meeting at my house in the morning."

"Oh my god, Izzy I love you!"

"I told you that you did!"

(0)

Early the next morning, the entire group met up at Izzy's house. "I explained to my mother that we were planning out an extensive search party and that if we weren't back by nightfall, she should call all of our parents and make up an excuse."

"Let's just hope that we make it back at all," Yolie said solemnly.

"We will, and Kari will be with us!" Davis shouted.

"Okay, I've neutralized the virus that Ken put in the portal, so we can pass through either way without a problem."

"Izzy, seriously man, I could kiss you right now!"

"Um, that won't be necessary. Now let's go get your sister back. Tk, would you do the honors?" Izzy asked.

Tk nodded enthusiastically. "Digiport Open!"

"Yes!" Davis cried when the group successfully made it into the Digiworld.

"It feels good to be back," Veemon said. "I feel stronger already."

"You're gonna need your strength," Tai lectured. "Now where are our digimon?"

"Right behind you Tai!" Tai turned and found an orange dino digimon ready to leap into his arms. "We heard what happened; we've been doing our best to sabotage some of the Kaiser's plans."

"Yeah, Tentomon even managed to create a malfunction in a network of spires that took two days to fix!" Biyomon added.

Tentomon blushed. "It was nothing, really."

"Well guys, let's get Kari back!" Tai shouted, throwing his fist into the air.

(0)

The Kaiser was watching the monitors intently. **_Even with the digidestined out of the way, I'm not making any more progress then when they were here! What the…?_** Ken couldn't believe what he was seeing. Nine humans were walking in the Digital World. "How did they get back in?" **_That red-haired guy, no doubt._**

Ken became furious. He clicked a few buttons and a concealed drawer popped out of the wall. He took the contents out and headed out of the control room. He was in front of Kari's door in record time.

The Kaiser threw open the door and glared at a very startled Kari. She was lying on her stomach and reading a book. "Can you knock?" she asked.

Ken rushed over to her and pulled her off the bed. The book fell to the ground. He grabbed her forearm and held up a dark ring. Hikari's eyes grew wide with fear and she started fighting him fiercely. "Please," she begged, "please don't."

"I told them something bad was going to happen if they came back. They need to learn a lesson!" He forced the ring onto her wrist.

Ken had never seen Kari so afraid before. "Please, please don't" she repeated over and over.

_Isn't there another way? Look, she's terrified! **If those idiots had listened to me then we wouldn't be in this situation at all. **But a dark ring? Isn't that a bit much? How will that prove the point?_ The Kaiser was beginning to grow bored of Ken's weakness. **_Fine!_**

"Stop moving and listen to me." Hikari ignored him and pulled her arms back. The motion pulled him towards her and she fell back onto the bed. Ken took the opportunity to keep her down. He put his hand just below her throat and held her down. Tears began to form in her eyes while she scratched at him. "Stop it a minute. Are you listening? Are you?"

He pushed down on her and cut of her air supply. She nodded weakly. "I'm listening," she whispered.

"I won't activate it but you have to do exactly as I say. You need to pretend that the ring _is_ activated and not talk to any of them. If you do, I will have them torn to pieces." He pulled his hand away from her.

"Alright, I won't say anything, just don't hurt them."

(0)

The digidestined were walking through a forest. They were near the clearing when two Tyranomon jumped in and blocked their path. "Going somewhere?" a voice asked from behind.

Tai whirled around to see the Kaiser stepping off of Airdramon's back and onto a rock with Kari next to him. "You're going to pay, Kaiser! Kari, are you alright?"

"She can't hear you," Ken said. "She can't hear anything except for the sound of my voice." He held up her wrist and showed off the dark ring.

"You're sick!" Tk screamed. "How dare you do that to her? Kari! Kari? Fight it, you have to overpower it!" Kari stood there, her eyes set on the ground.

The Kaiser just sneered. He whistled and several Gisamon ran in from the left. Then, five Monochromon stampeded in from the right.

"Okay guys, there's nine of us and a whole lot of him, give it your all!" Tai instructed.

"Ten," Gatomon corrected. "I'm still in." Tai nodded.

"Veemon armor digivolve to…Flamedramon, the fire of Courage"

"Patamon armor digivolve to…Pegasusmon, flying Hope"

"Hawkmon armor digivolve to…Halsemon, the wings of Love"

"Armadillomon armor digivolve to…Digmon, the Drill of Knowledge"

"Augumon didigvolve to…Greymon"

"Gabumon digivolve to…Garurumon"

"Biyomon digivolve to…Birdramon"

"Tentomon digivolve to…Kabuterimon"

"Gomamon digivolve to…Ikakumon"

"Okay guys, give it your all! We have to save Hikari!" Tk shouted to the digimon.

Pegasusmon, Halsemon, and Digmon went at the two Tyranomon. Greymon, Garurumon, Flamdramon, and Gatomon attacked the Monochromon. Ikakumon, Kabuterimon, and Birdramon went after the Gisamon.

Ken looked around. The digidestined were huddled together near where the Gisamon had jumped in. Eight of them were, at least. Ken searched for the ninth, Tai, who was nowhere to be found.

A loud yelp behind him revealed where the missing digidestined was. Tai had snuck around and jumped out, tackling Kari. She tried not to scream and did not fight him. Tai grabbed her arm and pulled at the dark ring. "I'm so sorry, Hika. I'm going to get this off, somehow."

"No you aren't." Before Tai could turn to acknowledge the voice behind him, Ken's elbow struck him in the side of the head. Tai grunted and fell sideways. Ken pulled Kari to her feet.

"You said you wouldn't hurt them!" she screamed at him, smacking his arm away.

Tai, slowly regaining his senses, barely heard what she had said. But he got enough to make it click. She wasn't being controlled. Tk and Davis had been close enough to hear as well and made their way up to Ken and Kari.

Ken saw the two boys ascending the rock. "And you said you wouldn't speak," he hissed. "So I guess we are even."

"No! Tai, I'm sorry, please say something!" Kari pushed Ken away and ran to her brother's side. She took his hand and squeezed it gently. Tai sat up and rubbed the side of his head with his free hand.

Ken grew furious. "Flymon, get down here!" A Flymon appeared from nowhere, speeding down to where Ken was. Ken grabbed Kari from behind and pushed her at the Flymon. "Take her back to the base," he ordered.

Flymon wrapped his arms around Kari and took off into the air. They were out of sight a moment later. Ken turned his attention to the two boys who had reached him.

Davis charged at Ken, knocking him to the ground. Ken flipped Davis over his head and stood up. Tk tried to land a punch, but Ken dodged it. Davis was behind him again, arms swinging recklessly. Ken grabbed both of them and slammed their heads together. Tk went down but Davis recovered quickly.

"You'll have to do better than that, my head is as hard as they get!" He set his stance and waited for Ken to attack. The Kaiser did, punching Davis in the stomach and kicking his legs out from under him. Arms wrapped around Ken from behind, pinning his own arms to his side. Ken side stepped and swung his foot around. It hit the back of his attacker's knee.

Tai let go of Ken and fell to the ground. Ken turned around and kneed Tai in the face. Tai coughed up blood.

All of the older digidestined's digimon dedigivolved within minutes of each other. Soon, only four armors and Gatomon were left defending the teens. Pegasusmon flew up to where Tk was and the three digidestined climbed on his back. Ken sneered as they escaped to where the others were.

Cody saw Armadillomon's bruised body rolling right into a tree. Hawkmon was thrown into the air and came down hard. Yolie ran up and pulled him to a safer spot. A loud scream from Gatomon indicated that she too was out. Matt picked up the feline from the ground.

"We have to retreat!" Izzy yelled.

"No!" Tk screamed. "I'm not leaving without her again!" Patamon was thrown at Tk's feet. "Patamon! Are you alright?"

Patamon flashed Tk a fake smile. "Never better," he whimpered.

Finally, Flamdramon lost all of his energy. He dedigivolved to Veemon. "We're out of us," Davis shouted, "But there's still a whole lotta him!"

_**Take care of them now! We'll never have to worry about them causing problems again! **I already told you I'm not a killer! _Ken whispered an order to one of the Gisamon who went around and gave the message to everyone else. The controlled digimon turned on the teens and came running at them.

The digidestined took off towards the clearing, each holding their half-dead digimon in there arms, except in Matt's case, as he was carrying two half-dead digimon. A TV was set up at the edge of the clearing. The controlled digimon chased the digidestined towards the TV. "Digiport Open!" Ken shouted, holding up his digivice in the distance. The digidestined were sucked into the TV, leaving behind the older digimon. At any other time Ken would have captured the digimon, but he had no interest in it at that moment. He called the Airdramon to him and took off towards the base.

(0)

Kari had run into the control room the moment Flymon had released her. She scrolled through the surveillance areas until a wooded area came up. She could see the fight from several different angles. All the digimon had returned to their rookie forms and the digidestined were holding them protectively. Ken stood there with a confident smirk on his face. He gave some order to a Gisamon and a chase soon followed. Kari stared at the screens apprehensively, worried for her friends' safety. She let out a long sigh when she realized that Ken had chased them towards a TV monitor and sent them back to the real world.

Kari decided to wait in her room for Ken to return. It wasn't long after she entered her room that Ken returned. His face was cold and his fists were clenched. He was _extremely _pissed off.

_**Damnit, I should have gotten rid of them when I had the chance. **Well they're gone now, so try and clam down a bit. **Shut up!**_

Kari wasn't sure if it was a good idea to speak to him; he looked more dangerous than usual. "Um, Ken?" she asked timidly.

"What?" he growled.

"I just wanted to say thanks for, uh, sending them back in one piece."

The Kaiser laughed. **_She must have been watching on the monitors. I would have put on a better show if I had known. _**His anger vanished completely, replaced by amusement of the previous events.

Ken walked oven to where Kari was standing. He looked down at her. She tried to act calm but her eyes gave away her worry. Ken brought his hand around to the small of her back and pulled her in close to him. He placed his other hand on the back of her head and kissed her lips hard.

Kari freaked and pushed him away. "What the hell are you doing?" she screamed, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"You wanted to thank me, didn't you?" he asked with a sinister smile on his face.

"Is that how you expect people to thank you?" she asked.

Ken's eyes locked onto something. Kari looked down to see what had caught his interest. She gasped and backed away. The same confident sneer from earlier was on his lips. "Please, please don't." she whispered backing further away from him. She pulled at the dark ring on her wrist.

Ken pulled out his D3 from his pocket. "Dark ring: activate."

Kari stopped moving immediately. Her arms dropped down to her sides and she stared blankly at the floor. Ken pulled off his gloves and removed his sunglasses. He set them and his D3 on the bedside table. "Kari, come here."

Kari walked up to Ken. She stared at him straight in the eyes. There was no emotion in them, just a glazed look. "Kiss me," he ordered.

Bringing her lithe arms up and around Ken's neck, Kari joined Ken in a kiss. Ken's hands ran down her side until they rested on her hips. The kiss deepened. Ken ran his tongue over her lips and she let his tongue pass into her mouth. He ran it over the back of her teeth and along the roof of her mouth, her tongue being equally active the entire time.

Ken felt his cape falling to his feet. Kari had untied it and was now bringing their bodies to the bed. They sat next to each other, still locked in a kiss. Kari pushed herself against Ken, making him fall back against the pillow. Her hands were running through his blue-black locks.

_This has to stop. It's gone too far already. **What's a matter, Ken, afraid of some physical contact? **This is wrong, we can't do this to her._

Ken rolled himself over so that he was on top of Hikari. He began kissing her neck and collarbone, savoring her flavor. Kari's hands wandered to the buttons on his white long sleeve shirt, slowing undoing them. She put her hands on his shoulders, under the shirt. Her hands slid down his muscular arms, forcing the sleeves down. The shirt fell to the ground.

_Stop this now! **Why? I'm going to enjoy myself; you're going to enjoy yourself; she won't admit it, but she's going to enjoy it too. **This is a crime! It HAS to stop. **I don't hear her telling me to stop. **She can't tell you! She can't say anything at all._

Kari's hand had now reached the buckle on his pants. Ken grabbed her hand and brought it above her. "Don't," he said. "Just kiss me." Kari, though in a trance and in no control of her body, could see Ken's eyes flicker from a cold expression to a softer one. Almost like he was fighting with himself…

The kissing resumed and intensified. Their breathing began to become heavier as they spent less time breathing and more time kissing. Kari's hands rubbed against his abs and chest while Ken used his arms to keep from putting too much weight on her.

The position reversed again as Kari pushed Ken sideways and placed her body over his. Ken's face was flushed and his skin hot from being excited. His hands rubbed her back and reached for the hem of her shirt. _NO! You can't do this, god damnit! _His hands did not venture up her shirt; instead they went back to rubbing her back.

Something wet hit Ken's cheek. He opened his eyes and saw that tears were falling from Hikari's eyes. A softer expression shown through Ken's eyes. He couldn't let the Kaiser get away with this. "Stop," he told her. "Just lay here."

Kari rested her head on his shoulder and upper chest area. He lay on his back while she was one her side, an arm extended over his stomach. Ken placed his arm over hers. Her breaths slowed down quickly and it seemed like she was scarcely breathing at all.

After a while, Ken shifted himself so that he could lower Hikari's head onto the bed. He pulled himself off the bed, grabbing his discarded shirt and cape. He then picked up his sunglasses, gloves, and D3 from the bedside table.

Ken walked towards the door. He looked back when he had opened it and stared at Kari's still form for a long moment. The D3 was raised in his hands. "Dark ring: deactivate." He slid out of the room and shut the door behind him without another word.

Kari slowly regained control of her body. She pulled her knees to her chest and began sobbing uncontrollably. Her body trembled and shook. Kari pulled and scratched at the dark ring until it finally unlocked and fell off her wrist. Never in her life had Hikari been as scared as she had been a few minutes prior. She cried herself to sleep that night.

(0)

That concludes chapter the fifth. This was the not-too graphic romance scene that I've had the warning up about in the beginning of every chapter. Was it okay?

I had really wanted to get this chapter up sooner, but my winter vacation had been cut short. I spent Thursday on a bus for like nine hours, and then I went around NYC. Friday was spent in NYC all day, and Saturday and Sunday I had competition in Trenton, New Jersey. I'm in winter guard and we were in a regional which my guard placed first in our division! Hooray for us. Yeah, then Sunday I got sick and spent Monday in bed. So I didn't get to write much of it until Tuesday (tonight) Okay you probably don't care so I'm done rambling.

Once again…

I'm also starting to plan out another story, after this one is done. Which would you prefer?

1) A Yakari that becomes a KenKari: Even though Ken has realized the error of his ways and the digidestined were able to join up to defeat the final enemy, the digidestined never accepted Ken. When Ken transfers to the gang's high school, they don't make things easy for him. Only Kari wants to give him a chance. Overprotective boyfriend (that would be Matt) and brother (Tai, obviously) step in and create problems. Some sort of dark power comes after Kari and…. Well it would end up Ken/Kari but I can't give everything away.

Current votes: 2

2) A KenKari that becomes a Yakari: Ken and Kari become close because they both share a connection to the darkness. Ken gets pulled back into the dark world and breaks up with Kari. Yada, yada, yada, Matt and Kari get together and Ken, controlled by the darkness, tries to kidnap Kari…Matt must save the day.

Current Votes: 1

Both of these summaries are pretty vague, but I don't want to give it all away. Please review this chapter and add in which idea you like better. Pretty please?

I want to say that I love everyone who's reviewed and I hope I'm not disappointing you.

Please become a reviewer today! It's easy and painless! I promise!

Jillie062


	6. Another Failed Rescue Attempt

Author's Note: If you really feel the need to read what I've written before starting every chapter, then click on the back button, read the previous author's note, return to this page and pretend you read it here. J

I wanted to put a chapter between this one and the last one, but it would have either been pointless, stupid, boring filler crap, or it would have taken the fic in an entirely new direction. There should be something in between so I apologize for my lack of creativity.

**Shattered **

**Chapter Six: Another Failed Rescue Attempt**

An involuntary shiver ran through his spine. Water dripped down from his hair as he paced back and forth in his room. He had just taken his third cold shower since the night before.

_**Don't you want to go see her? **She won't want to speak to me after what you did. **That's too bad for her, we're going.**_

Ken's head began throbbing as he tried to resist leaving the room. Finally, he gave in and headed down to see Kari. Wormmon found him on the way. "I don't think that you should go see Hikari yet," he warned.

**_That's surprising,_** the Kaiser thought dryly.

Ken nervously knocked on the door. When no answer came, he opened it. Kari jerked her head up, meeting his eyes. Ken was the first to look away. Deciding that this was a bad idea, Ken turned to leave.

"Ken, wait." Ken turned back to face Kari. "I, um, thank you, Ken. For stopping the Kaiser." Kari's eyes still pierced through him.

"How do you know it wasn't the other way around?" he growled.

"Your eyes," she explained, unfazed by his remark. "Is that why you always wear sunglasses?"

The Kaiser said nothing. He chose this outfit because it was fitting for a digimon emperor. It had nothing to do with Ken or his eyes. He turned again and left the room. Both the Kaiser and Ken felt foolish for going down there.

Kari sighed deeply. She hadn't been ready to face him. Wormmon stepped in with a cup of herbal tea. "How are you doing?" he asked in a concerned tone.

"I've been better," she admitted, petting his head in thanks for the tea. Setting it down to cool, Hikari wandered over to the window. She wondered how Tai and the others were doing, hoping that they were alright.

She missed her brother and parents greatly. And Gatomon. Gatomon had undoubtedly attached herself to either Tai or Tk, but Kari doubted that she spoke to them much. How could this have happened? How could things get so screwed up? Saving the world was dangerous, but she had never been warned about being kidnapped and held hostage. Eleventh grade would start in little over a month. She wouldn't still be a captive at the base when it started, would she?

(0)

"Is everyone here?" the redheaded computer genius asked.

"Yeah, we're all accounted for," Matt responded.

"Except for my sister," Tai mumbled.

Izzy shot Tai an aggravated glare. "After yesterday's, uh, fiasco, I got to thinking. We went about things all wrong. We jumped into the Digiworld without having any idea where Kari was, we wandered around aimlessly, and we got our asses handed to us."

"What else can we do? It's not like we can locate Kari with the D3 or anything," Tk added sadly.

"That's what I called everyone here for. We're going back to get Kari, but this time we're going to do it right. I e-mailed Gennai to see if he could help at all, and he had an interesting theory." Izzy inhaled deeply after speaking so quickly as to not be interrupted.

"Gennai? Did he give you another cryptic clue that does absolutely nothing to help us?" Tk spat out.

"No, actually, he gave me a straightforward answer. He believes that because of the connection that Light shares with the other crests, we should be able to combine our powers and sort of 'detect' where Kari is in the Digital World."

"Powers?" Yolie asked. "Since when does anyone have powers?"

"I thought that Kari was the only one with any powers," Tai thought aloud.

"What powers!" Yolie shouted.

"Hikari has special Light powers that were granted to her because of her crest. I really don't know any specifics because special precautions have been taken to keep her powers suppressed. According to Gennai, the stronger Kari's power becomes, the more likely it is that she will be targeted by the darkness" Izzy explained. "It's better to keep them underdeveloped and her safe, then to have her learn to use them and be in constant danger."

"When we first went to the Digital World, Kari got sick and we went into a town to find medicine. We got separated by Machindramon and landed in the sewers. When Kari was well enough to walk, we tried to find a way out, but instead we found captured Numemons working for WaruMonzemon. Kari used her powers to free them." Tk tried to explain what had happened to the digidestined that weren't there at the time.

"And she gave Biyomon and me the power to digivolve," Patamon added.

"Okay, so Kari has some freakishly awesome powers, what about the rest of us?" Davis asked.

"We don't have any," Tai answered.

"I didn't think we did either. But you see, our crests are based on our Light Attributes-"

"What are those, Izzy?" Cody questioned.

"Light Attributes are our positive attributes that give us the ability to evoke the power of the crests. My Light Attribute is knowledge, Tai's is courage, and Matt's is friendship, and so on. We kind of unconsciously borrowed Kari's power every time we used our crests. If we didn't have the connection to Kari, our crests would be corrupted by the darkness and convert to anti-crests. I would draw my power from ignorance, Tai from cowardice, and Matt from evasion. So we don't really have our own power, just the capability to use Kari's."

"What does that matter? The crests were destroyed, remember? So now we have no way to borrow her powers" Tai noted.

"Well, we may not have crests, but we still have the connection to Kari through our attributes. The strongest being Hope, obviously."

Davis scowled. "Humph. Why does Tp get to have the strongest connection to Kari? I have two crest attributes, or whatever they are."

"Hope is the closet to Light in purity and innocence. It is an attribute that all holy creatures have. That and Light and Kindness… Apparently, there was a crest of kindness that was never distributed to a chosen. Whoever that is will have the same spiritual connection to Kari as Tk, if there even is someone to whom it belongs." Izzy had the same curious look he had when he wanted to know something badly.

"Since when has there been a crest of kindness? Is there an armor digiegg of kindness?" Cody asked.

"No, the digieggs were created when our crests were destroyed and us original eight had to create our own temporary crests to defeat Apocolamon. We borrowed Kari's power, then, though we didn't realize it at the time. The armor digieggs manifested from the energy we created to make the crests. Since no one had to make a temporary crest of kindness, no armor digiegg was created."

"How do you know all this Izzy? And what does it have to do with us locating Kari in the Digital World?" Tai sighed in frustration. Things weren't supposed be so complicated, they were supposed to be easy and quick. This entire ordeal should have been over by now.

"Gennai and I discussed all of this last night. Right, so it's important because I think that Tk has a strong enough spiritual connection to Kari that, if we all focus our energy, he can leave his body and go to where she is."

"An out of body experience, how cool! Does it have to be Tk?" asked Yolie.

"I think so. It's more likely to work. Now remember, this is only a theory I had, I don't know if it'll work for sure-"

"Yeah, yeah, let's get started already. What do we do?" Tai stood up and stretched his arms above his head. He was ready; no matter what it took he was going to get his sister back.

"How will I know what to do?" Tk asked.

"You will be drawn to her. Everyone sit down in a circle. Tk, you go right there." Izzy set everyone up before opening up a computer program that Gennai had sent him. Then he too took a seat. "Okay, we need to focus our spiritual energy on Kari. Close your eyes and think of shooting your abilities into Tk."

The room was quiet as everyone skeptically tried to focus their minds. The computer program amplified their energies as soon as they were manifested and shot them into Tk. The whole room was filled with a pulsating glow and a light was being emitted off Tk's skin.

Tk felt himself leaving his body and going through the gate. He was standing in the Digital World. A force of energy pulled Tk's body forward. Everything was blurred because he moved so fast. Finally, he was standing inside the base. Tk could see the outline of a person glowing in a soothing pink light. It had to be Hikari.

Tk was pulled back as quickly as he was drawn in. He was thrown back into his body, falling sideways onto Tai. "Izzy, you're a genius!" he cried when his body and spirit were realigned.

"It worked?" Izzy asked.

Tk nodded. "The base is inside a mountain, just past a forest. There are no distinctive features that would make it recognizable, that's why we never found it before." Tk held up his D3. "Let's go."

"Wait! Did you have a temporary lapse of auditory cognition capabilities?" Tk stared at the genius blankly. Izzy sighed. "Were you not listening to me before, when I said that we were going to do things right this time?"

"We have a location, what else do we need?" Tai piped up.

"We need a plan. Luckily, I have a plan. We need a distraction to lure Ken and as many controlled digimon away as possible. The rest of us will sneak into the base, get Kari, and high-tail it out of there. Tk, Tai, and Matt are going to be our decoys."

"What? Why me?" Tk huffed, wanting to rescue Kari personally.

"Because you and Tai are the most likely to charge blindly into the Digital World and Matt is the most likely one to try to keep you from doing something _too_ stupid. Now Tk, open the gate so that you three can arrive in the Digiworld in the forest in front of the base. I'll set it up so the rest of us make it through behind the base as soon as you distract him. Everyone understand?"

There was a general nod towards the redhead. "Digiport Open!" Tk shouted.

(0)

_**We need to talk. **So talk…** Not here, in person.**_ Ken was confused at how he was supposed to meet someone in his head; aside from when he was dreaming, it was impossible for him to actually see the Kaiser. It became clear, however, when Ken was brought into his mind, leaving his body to fall on the floor in the control room.

"_What's this all about?" Ken asked, looking around him. He was standing in darkness, the darkness that clouded his mind._

_The Kaiser appeared in front of Ken. He had his normal, digital appearance, but Ken was in the old school uniform. "Hikari is making you weak. WE have a goal, remember? Taking over the Digital World, living somewhere where everyone listens to you and appreciates you, not the Sam impersonation that you play out in the Real World."_

"_None of that is worth it anymore. I don't want to take over the Digital World; I'm starting to doubt that I ever did. Maybe it was you the whole time. I don't care about this stupid game world. Being in control of digimon has nothing to do with reality."_

"_You are so naïve, believing only what you want to believe. This world isn't just a computer game. It's a parallel world to your own."_

_Ken shook his head. "I would never have allowed this if it were real. If it were real then we inflicted real pain onto those creatures. I wouldn't enslave real creatures, and I won't let you enslave Kari! I, I'm going to send her home."_

"_No, you aren't."_

"_Why would you possibly care? What does she mean to you? We can send her back with another virus, like we did with Tk, and you can go back to trying to master this game."_

"_Tell me something, Ken, if this world isn't real than why does it still hurt you to fight me? Why did Kari get sick? If this place wasn't real than you 'real people' wouldn't feel anything here."_

"…" _Ken lowered his head. The Kaiser had to be lying. Ken was smart enough to know if this place were real, wasn't he? With the Kaiser clouding up his mind, he wasn't sure if he would have been able to figure it out. Had he really been mercilessly hurting the innocent digimon?_

_The Kaiser sneered at Ken. He had been manipulated well up until now; the connection to the darkness that the dark spore had created had brought out his anti-crest power of cruelty, but being around Kari was purifying it and turning it back to the Attribute of kindness. Ken didn't even understand his connection to Kari, the underlying connection that they shared. "I don't want to conquer the Digital World right now, Ken. I'd much rather conquer Hikari."_

_Ken's head snapped up. "What!"_

"_You heard me," the Kaiser growled._

"_I won't let you!"_

"_How do you plan on stopping me? You don't have the strength or the will to fight me."_

"_It's still my body!"_

_The Kaiser tapped on the side of his forehead with his gloved fingers._

"_Screw the damn headaches! I don't care if I get them! I don't care what happens to me as long as I stop you!"_

_Heaving a heavy sigh, the Kaiser looked away. "Do you know what your problem is? You don't have the balls to go after what you want. If it weren't for me, you'd be a miserable, lonely, normal, friendless jerk. You need me because you can't handle all that guilt you have for wanting your brother out of the way. You need me to help you fulfill your destiny!"_

"_You're wrong. I don't need you and I don't want this destiny. You and it can go straight to Hell!" Ken shouted._

"_The girl is making you think this way. Feelings make you weak. Do you actually believe that she'll forgive you for what you've put her through? Once she's back with her friends, she won't care if you're alive or dead."_

"_You're wrong…she wants to help me."_

"_She only said that to confuse you. She's toying with you. Your feelings for her are pointless."_

"_And what about yours!"_

"_The feelings I have for Hikari are from being forced to share your body. I always feel what you feel, often times I feel things instead of you. Guilt, misery, pain, I take all the in and keep it from you. My feelings for Kari will go away, right after I put you in your place!" _

_The Kaiser pushed Ken backwards. Ken found himself falling further and further into the darkness, being locked inside the confines of his own mind. Suddenly, he could feel the Kaiser's emotions and hear all of his thoughts. Never before could he access all the Kaiser's thoughts, though he had always been able to read Ken's. _

"_You are no longer needed" came the haunting echo of the Kaiser's fading voice. "I won't let your weak human heart interfere with my plans…" The Kaiser's laugh was heard from a distance._

_Ken panicked. The Kaiser was going to have complete control over his body. There was no more mediation or resistance. He had lost to the Kaiser at last. He was pushed back into the darkest corners of his mind._

(0)

The Kaiser opened his eyes. He had complete control over Ken's body. **_My body._** A smug grin rested comfortably on his face.

Wormmon came running in. "You're awake! I was so, worried Ken, I couldn't get you to wake up and-"

The Kaiser grabbed the insectoid digimon by his ears. "Always call me master!" he hissed, ready to drop kick the green worm clear across the room. A red flashing light and the sound of an alarm distracted him, however.

"What the…" the Kaiser questioned, dropping Wormmon to the ground. **_The alarm I set up to go off whenever anyone passed through the gates!_** The self-proclaimed emperor ran to his computers, flipping through surveillance sectors until he found what he was looking for.

Tai, Matt, and Tk were walking through the forest near the front of the base. Their digimon were walking by their partners, or, in Patamon's case, sitting on Tk's head.

"Only three? Something isn't right. They aren't trying to trick me, are they? Wormmon, where is Kari?"

"She's in the daycare with the baby digimon. Should I get her?" he asked nervously. He didn't know exactly what had happened the last time the digidestined had come through the gate, but it hadn't turned out well.

"No, if she asks where I am, make something up. I'm going to take care of these annoying bastards myself."

"Oh boy…" Wormmon whispered.

(0)

Matt looked over at Tk. He was absentmindedly staring at the scenery, not really taking any of it in. Tai had a determined look on his face, ready for anything.

"Well, well, three intruders. What should I do with them?" The Kaiser appeared, on top of his Airdramon.

"How 'bout you hand my sister over!" Tai screamed. "Agumon!"

"Agumon digivolve to… Greymon!"

"Gabumon digivolve to… Garurumon!"

"Patamon digivolve to… Angemon!"

The three digimon faced off with three Airdramon. The Kaiser had jumped down to allow his slave to wreak as much havoc as possible. A blinking red light went off on Ken's D3. "Your friends are here, now."

Tai looked over at Matt with concern. The distraction attack was obviously not going to work if Ken knew about it. "You just worry about facing us," he warned.

"But of course," the Kaiser confirmed.

"Spinning Needle!" one Airdramon shouted, aiming his attack at the three adolescents. They barely dodged the attack, and landed heavily on the ground.

Garurumon ran up to them and lowered his stomach onto the ground. "I'm going to get you out of harm's way," he explained. Tai, Matt, and Tk climbed onto Garurumon's back.

Tai watched helplessly as Greymon took a heavy blow from two Airdramon. He dedigivolved back to Agumon. A dark ring rushed upon him and closed around his neck. "Agumon!" Tai screamed.

The Airdramon picked Agumon up by the tail with his teeth. He flew back towards the base. The remaining joined together and took Angemon down. A dark spiral latched itself onto Patamon's abdomen. "Patamon!" Tk shouted as his partner was carried away.

Garurumon took off towards the others. He could get back to the TV his partner had come through without running into the remaining Airdramon, so he was going to find the one that the others had used.

A Weremon jumped out from the bushes as the Kaiser stepped onto the Airdramon's back. The Weremon, essentially a Garurumon, but with black fur and white stripes, and a slight bit smaller, chased after Garurumon and the Chosen three. "Howling Despair!" it called out, just missing Garurumon. He continued running, right past the mountain that was really the base, and to where the others could be seen. "Howling Despair!"

This time, the attack hit his hind legs. Tk went flying off, only to be caught by a Parrotmon. The green bird dug his claws into Tk's shoulders as he hung onto him in the air. Tai and Matt went crashing down to the ground as Garurumon changed back to Gabumon.

The remainder of the digidestined saw Matt and Tai go down. A Gisamon grabbed Tai by his ankles and began dragging him away. The rocks scraped against Tai's back, cutting open his skin. Gatomon jumped onto of the Gisamon, forcing the creature to release Tai.

"Veemon armor digivolve to…Flamedramon, the fire of Courage"

"Hawkmon armor digivolve to…Halsemon, the wings of Love"

"Armadillomon armor digivolve to…Digmon, the Drill of Knowledge"

"Biyomon digivolve to…Birdramon"

"Tentomon digivolve to…Kabuterimon"

"Gomamon digivolve to…Ikakumon"

The fighting became more intense as the controlled digimon began aiming for the digidestined. Halsemon swooped down and Sora and Yolie climbed onto his back. "Howling Despair!" The attack from the ultimate digimon hit Halsemon's underbelly, causing him to dedigivolve. Yolie and Sora fell from twenty feet up. Hawkmon was caught by the Weremon, his teeth unceremoniously cutting into his flesh. A dark ring attached itself to the bird's left wing. He was taken away in the clutches of a Flymon.

Matt weakly crawled to where his dog friend was lying unconscious. A Tyranomon swatted Matt back with his massive tail. Matt landed against a tree, only able to see a dark ring close on Gabumon's paw through blurred vision.

Tk was dropped to the ground, the Parrotmon clawed at the chosen protector of hope. His talons ripped apart Tk's shirt and tore into his stomach. Gatomon, after effectively fighting off the Gisamon, lunged at the Parrotmon's throat. He grabbed the feline with his long beak and applied increasing pressure until she couldn't breathe. A spiral slid onto her tail, where the tail ring would rightfully be.

Joe had run over to Yolie and Sora. Yolie's arm was twisted into an unnatural position, and neither protector of love would awaken. Ikakumon shielded Joe from a swarm of Gisamon, howling painfully as the creatures bit his entire body. Gomamon found himself at the bottom of a pile of digimon. Joe tried to help his friend, but was tripped and twisted his ankle. He watched from the ground as a dark ring took control of his partner.

Digmon and Kabuterimon were fighting desperately to protect Izzy and Cody from Weremon. He kept trying to swipe at them with his claw, only to be pushed back by one of the two digimon. Finally, Weremon just attacked Digmon and Kabuterimon. Birdramon swooped in, only to be downed by Parrotmon. All three dedigivloved and were given new jewelry. Izzy and Cody ran away, narrowly avoiding a stream of black energy from Weremon. It instead hit a tree, causing it to fall over. The tree landed on top of the two boys.

Davis looked around nervously. He and Flamdramon were the only ones left. An explosion behind him caused Davis to fall. Parrotmon dove in, only to meet Flamdramon's 'Fire Rocket'. "Thanks," Davis called to his friend.

Flamdramon prepared to respond, but was hit from behind by a 'Howling Despair'. The attack hit Davis as well, and he saw a dark ring choking Veemon before passing out.

The Kaiser looked around contently. He would have never been able to do this had he not locked Ken away in his own mind. All of the digimon were carried away to be used as experiments, or target practice, the Kaiser hadn't decided yet.

The digidestined were all out cold, badly injured, and several were probably on the verge of dieing. The Kaiser had some of the controlled digimon carelessly bring the chosen teens to the dungeons, where they could await their demise.

(0)

The chapter is done! It's a tad bit longer than the last one, which was the longest. I would love to hear from you. I was told that my story kicks butt, that made me smile I got a review in Italian, that was exciting. Reviews are lovely ways to spread the love, so do it! I hope I'm not disappointing anyone.

Honestly, I never had any intention of involving Kari's powers in here. I needed a way for them digidestined to find her, and (hopefully) explain how Ken is connected to Kari. (It's part of the reason he likes her) Now we are going to see just how evil the Kaiser is.

Once again…

I'm also starting to plan out another story, after this one is done. Which would you prefer?

1) A Yakari that becomes a KenKari: Even though Ken has realized the error of his ways and the digidestined were able to join up to defeat the final enemy, the digidestined never accepted Ken. When Ken transfers to the gang's high school, they don't make things easy for him. Only Kari wants to give him a chance. Overprotective boyfriend (that would be Matt) and brother (Tai, obviously) step in and create problems. Some sort of dark power comes after Kari and…. Well it would end up Ken/Kari but I can't give everything away.

Current votes: 3

2) A KenKari that becomes a Yakari: Ken and Kari become close because they both share a connection to the darkness. Ken gets pulled back into the dark world and breaks up with Kari. Yada, yada, yada, Matt and Kari get together and Ken, controlled by the darkness, tries to kidnap Kari…Matt must save the day.

Current Votes: 3

Both of these summaries are pretty vague, but I don't want to give it all away. Please review this chapter and add in which idea you like better. Pretty please?

**_Adventures of the Tainted_** is not the story for either option one or two. It's an idea that I had that I can hopefully straighten out in my head and write up properly. It's an adventure story with all the 01&02 digidestined but focuses on Kari. Check it out!

**!(-)!** I need a few more reviews before chapter 2 goes up!

Also, check out my profile for info on my current and future fics!

Jillie062


	7. Split Personality

Not much to say before this chapter, other than please review this and Adventures of the Tainted. I need the questions answered before I finish planning chapter 2 out.

Oh, yea, most of this chapter is just Kaiser, with no Ken involved (you know what happened to him last chapter). Before I referred to Ken/Kaiser as either or interchangeably, so there would be some variety, so I might refer to him as Ken or Kaiser now, just so there is still some variety. Spelling out 'the Kaiser' repeatedly gets kind of old. I don't know; we'll see when I write it!

**Shattered**

**Chapter Seven: Split Personality**

The digidestined were all thrown into a cell together. The digimon had been locked away somewhere, under the spell of the dark rings and spirals. There had been no need to chain the teens up at all, seeing as they were all badly injured.

Matt had been thrown mercilessly into a tree, which had cracked his ribs. His left wrist was broken and he could not move without an extreme amount of pain following. He tried, however, to look after his brother.

The cuts in Tk's shoulders from being handled by Parrotmon were deep and turning an ugly greenish color. They were nothing in comparison to his stomach, though. The wounds were bleeding profusely. Chunks of skin were torn out in random places all along his abdomen and chest, his shirt was nearly black from being soaked in blood. Breathing was a chore, and his life blood was spilling over onto the cold stone floor. The wounds were not clotting, and dirt and grime infected them.

Tai was lying on his stomach, his head resting on his arms. His back had been torn open from being dragged across the jagged ground. His ankles were so raw from the Gisamon that he could not support his own weight. He lay there, staring blankly, there but not there at the same time. He was too preoccupied feeling guilty to notice anyone around him. He had failed Agumon, his friends; he had failed Kari, who could be a floor above him for all he knew.

Sora and Yolie had both fallen from a height of twenty feet. Sora's spine was misaligned, which, if it didn't kill her, would cripple her for life. Yolie's arm was twisted backwards, made worse by being thrown into the cell. Her legs were both broken, too. Neither girl had moved since the fall, they scarcely looked alive they were so eerily still. They had been moved so that Sora was on her stomach and Yolie was on her back.

Davis had taken quite a hit from Weremon's attack. The 'Howling Despair' had ripped the skin off his right arm, exposing muscle and bone. Also, the bone in his right arm had been snapped and was sticking out of the tissue and muscle. His side was in a similar condition, having tiny holes that pierced through it.

Izzy's hip bone had been pushed out of place from the tree falling on him. The pressure had put a hole in his lung so he spent his time focusing on breathing. It was painful, but it was better than focusing on hoping that his lung wasn't filling up with blood or that any internal bleeding was occurring.

Cody's throat had been slashed by the tree, tearing at his vocal chords. He was mute and unsure whether or not he'd ever be able to speak again. The cut had missed all major arteries in his neck and had successfully clotted. Unless he coughed, the bleeding had stopped. His legs were also crushed by the tree. He had been set up against the wall, but he had somehow slide flat on the ground.

Luckily for them, Joe was the least injured of the group. His left forearm had been shattered when a Gisamon had jumped on it. He had been trying his best to help everyone, but he lacked the supplies and training to handle the severe cases presented to him. He knew that it was likely that Tk, Sora, Yolie, and Izzy were going to die. Cody would probably never speak again, and Tai would never play soccer again. Davis and Matt had injuries that, if treated properly, could turn out for the better. His entire arm was numb, making him wonder if he'd ever be able to use it again.

All the digidestined had additional cuts and bruises, and, as Tai figured, they were all going to die down in the dungeon anyway. There was no hope nor courage nor reliability from which the digidestined could draw strength from. The situation was hopeless, they were afraid, and they could not count on one another for help.

"Hey Izzy, would you mind calculating the probability of Mimi coming and saving the day?" Davis joked.

"I would, but the situation is depressing enough…" he said before coughing painfully.

The cell door suddenly flung open, and the Kaiser walked in. In his arms was Demiveemon, who had dedigivolved as Davis' condition deteriorated. "This makes you wonder what in the world you were thinking trying to challenge me, doesn't it? I let you all go not a few days ago, and here you come, waltzing back into my Digital World, trying to be the heroes. Tell me, do any of you feel like heroes?"

Cody stuck his middle finger up at Ken. "You need to help them, Ken." Joe pleaded. "They're going to die if they don't get to a hospital soon. Really soon."

The Kaiser just sneered. "What makes you think I care? You all are going to die down here. It's just how and how fast that needs to be decided." The Kaiser looked down at Demiveemon. The small blue digimon jumped down from his arms and threw himself at Davis. The Kaiser turned and walked away as Davis used his foot to try and keep Demiveemon at bay.

(0)

The Kaiser had entered the control room. **_Half of the digidestined are near death already. I'll have no fun whatsoever if they all just up and die on me. Oh well, I'll see what I can do. So long as Kari doesn't find out…_**

Instinctively, the Kaiser waited for Ken's rebuttal or protest. Remembering that Ken was stuck in the shadows of his mind gave the Kaiser great satisfaction. He praised his genius for successfully evading Ken's suspicions while he worked on a way to stop the host body. Letting Ken believe that he was in control by sinking into the back of Ken's mind, like when he Ken wanted to talk to Kari alone, gave the Kaiser the opportunity to plan out what he would do. Mostly when Ken was sleeping, the Kaiser had gone back into Ken's mind, carving a hole out that, when finished, would easily keep him at bay. Using Ken's guilt as the barrier would ensure that Ken could not free himself. Ken had avoided those feelings for years; he didn't know how to face them to obtain freedom.

Kari walked into the control room, interrupting the Kaiser's self praise. His heart skipped a beat when he saw her. **_What? I don't feel this way; Ken was the one who cares about her. I shouldn't have these feelings now that Ken is out of the way. I can't care about her, the light._** The Kaiser was baffled. He had expected that Ken's feelings would be suppressed along with Ken. Unless they weren't Ken's feelings after all. The Kaiser knew that his desire for Kari was based on his need to conquer her. But now, the feelings had been warped; he wanted her beside him, still submissive and defeated, but with him nonetheless.

"What have you done to Ken?" She asked abruptly, folding her arms over her chest. She had felt the drastic contrast between light and dark in Ken's entity, and it unnerved her. It felt like the light had been extinguished and only ashes remained.

A sinister smile spread across his face. "Sit down," he ordered, directing Kari into a chair. He stood behind her and began massaging her shoulders. "It's just going to be you and me for awhile. Ken's on a sort of timeout, you could say."

Kari shook her head. "Don't be so confident that you've beaten him. If you underestimate him then you'll be sorry."

"Why do you give him more credit than he deserves? Ken is weak and easily manipulated. I have no need for him anymore."

"You wouldn't be here if it weren't for him."

"True, but he's gotten in my way too many times. When I wanted him to come to the Digital World, he resisted until I could convince him that his destiny was here. He's kept me from making a full out attack on the digimon and taking them all down in one grand swoop. He wasn't going to let me have what I want now. Do you know what that is?" The Kaiser leaned in closer to Kari, whispering in her ear. "I want you, Kari."

Kari shook his hands of her shoulders and stood up. She walked away from him, only turning when she was near the door. "You don't scare me," she said.

"That's good; a Kaiserin shouldn't be afraid of anything." The Kaiser watched with a satisfied smile when she walked away from him. **_Alright, if she's what I want and not just what Ken wants, then she's going to be mine. I'm going to have to put her in her place, punish her so she knows better than to disobey me. I'll have to dispose of those digital morons first, though._** The Kaiser headed down to his lab, where a white feline digimon and an orange bat-pig were being held. He had some experiments to perform, testing the effects of his dark D3 on holy digimon.

(0)

Kari walked at a quick pace to get away from the Kaiser. When she thought she was far enough away, she collapsed against the wall, holding her head in her hands. The Kaiser didn't scare Kari, he _terrified_ her.

She refused to believe that the Kaiser had beaten Ken. Ken was a real person, not a collection of dark energy that manifested itself into its own personality. She was going to have to find a way to help Ken overpower the Kaiser, the only question was how? Kari realized that Ken was pretty much on his own for this one; he would have to find a way to regain control. She didn't even know for sure what had happened to him.

A strange feeling washed over Kari's person, making her shiver uncontrollably. She stood up and started walking, following where the feeling was leading her. She ended up heading straight down to the dungeons. She heard a voice in the distance. "Demi, knock it off! Get a grip…OWW!"

Was that Davis? Kari ran down the hallway past all the empty cells, and nearly ran past the one that was filled with nine people and only digimon. Kari gasped, watching as Demiveemon viciously bit down on Davis' sneaker, after Davis stuck his foot out to prevent the little guy from ripping his stomach open.

"Oh god…" she whispered. The digidestined who were awake looked up at her, surprised expressions painting their faces. She pulled the door open and ran to where Demiveemon was. She picked him up, saving Davis from his friend. Stepping back towards the door, she called to the guard.

A Mushroommon walked over. Kari handled the now docile Demiveemon to him. "Please, go and find Wormmon." The Mushroommon bowed his head and went to find the green digimon.

"How, when, how did you get here?"

"We've been here a few hours. I guess this is what happens when you fail at a rescue attempt." Davis said, trying to make the mood lighter.

Kari looked around, shocked. She saw Tk lying in the corner, the ground around him stained red. "Tk!" She ran over to him, sitting on the ground beside him.

Tk opened his eyes. "Kari?" he whispered weakly.

Kari held his hand, entwining her fingers around his. "Tk," she sobbed, "oh god, Tk…" Kari looked around. Yolie, Sora, Izzy, and Cody were all out. Joe had torn his shirt and was trying to wrap Tai's ankles. Matt had passed out beside his brother. Davis was staring at her, the light missing from his eyes. Her thoughts went to Ken, wondering if he was in a similar condition somehow. She scolded herself for thinking of him at this time, when her friends were in such a condition.

Wormmon ran into the cell as fact as his little legs would allow. He looked around confused. "Ken couldn't have done this…" he told himself.

"Yeah, could have and he did!" Davis replied.

"No he didn't!"

"Wormmon, the _Kaiser_ did do this" Kari spoke up, emphasizing the word 'Kaiser'. Wormmon's face fell. If the Kaiser had been able to get away with this, then Ken must be in some serious trouble. It did explain why he hadn't wanted Kari to know they were here; he probably wanted to torture them and, in doing so, torture Kari. "Wormmon? Do you think you could help them at all?"

Wormmon shook his head. "The best I could do is wrapping the wounds. My Sticky Thread won't do anything for broken bones or internal bleeding. The best it could do would be to help with the small cuts and bruises." Wormmon looked away, unable to watch as tears filled Kari's eyes.

Kari stood up and walked over to her brother. "Tai," she whispered, "what were you thinking coming here?"

Tai said nothing. He looked away from his crying sister, unable to face the reminder that he had failed. His head was turned by a glowing hand. Tai gasped; Kari's body was surrounded by a pink glow that was so bright it nearly blinded him. The light surrounded all the digidestined as it filled the room.

Tai's ankles burned as the skin regenerated itself at an unnatural pace. The cuts on his back closed up, as well. He looked up at his sister but was unable to make out her features very well with the pink light that she generated around her.

Joe jumped back from Tai, confused by the light. It struck his arm, absorbing under his skin. First his arm tingled, then it hurt, then he could move it at his will.

Sora's spine cracked loudly as it moved back into place. The painful sensation awoke her. She sat up, confused. She wasn't sure how she could move after the fall. Beside her, Yolie stirred as the light pierced through her broken arm and legs. Her arm untwisted and her legs went back to their rightful positions.

The hole in Izzy's lung closed up, letting the boy take in a long, healthy breath. His hip was forced back inward, causing the young genius to fall sideways onto Cody. Surprised, Cody let out a soft scream, as his vocal chords were repaired by the light. The slash across his throat became smaller and smaller until it disappeared completely. His legs also healed much as Yolie's had.

The cracks in Matt's ribs were welded back together, creating an uncomfortable sensation that woke him up. He sat up, leaning on his hand for support, forgetting that his wrist was broken. The light wrapped around it, set it back in place, and pulled the bone back together.

Davis' bone sank back into his arm before skin covered it. The gaps of flesh were filled in on his side. Unfortunately, however, his shoe was still in a pitiful condition from Demiveemon's biting.

Tk's wounded shoulders and stomach healed. It burned, though, like new flesh was being poured on while it was on at a fiery temperature. Tk sat up, feeling his chest to see that there were no holes or missing flesh. He pulled off the tattered remains of his blood red shirt.

Kari collapsed to the floor, barely being caught by her brother. She gave him a small smile before closing her eyes and falling asleep from exhaustion. Wormmon ran over and checked out that everything was alright.

A moment later, Kari opened her eyes. She looked ready to pass-out again, but insisted that she was alright. "Wormmon, you know how to remove the dark rings, don't you?" Wormmon nodded uncertainly. Kari gestured towards Demiveemon who was in a very confused Mushroommon's arms.

Wormmon hobbled over and climbed onto Mushroommon's arm. He disconnected the ring with his claw. "Hmmm? Why does my mouth taste like shoe?" the newly freed Demiveemon asked. "Davish!" Demiveemon hopped down and ran to his partner.

"It's good to have you back."

Demiveemon digivolved into Veemon at his friend's feet. "Are the others still captured?"

Davis nodded sullenly, catching Kari's attention. "All of our digimon are here?" she asked in disbelief. She stood up quickly and headed for the cell door.

"Where are you going?" asked Tk, standing up himself.

"I'm going to set the digimon free, and then I'm going to get you guys out of here."

Tk was confused by the strange choice of words Kari had used. She had said 'I'm going to get _you guys_ out of here' instead of 'I'm going to get _us_ out of here.' He decided that he was just over thinking and followed Kari out of the cell.

The digidestined snuck through the corridors of the dungeons. Kari stopped abruptly, signaling to them to be quiet. Around the corner, the Kaiser was throwing Patamon and Gatomon into the cell where the destined digimon were being held. "What a waste," he mumbled before walking away.

Wormmon crawled around the corner and opened the cell when the coast was clear. The digidestined agilely came around the corner and hurried into the cell. Wormmon quickly removed all of the rings and spirals. Because of the state their partners had been in, all the digimon, except Gatomon, and Patamon because the Kaiser had unsuccessfully tried to make him digivolve into Darkangemon, had dedigivolved. Being reunited, the digimon returned to their rookie levels.

Wormmon's eyes flashed with a glint of jealousy as Kari and Gatomon were reunited. The white feline was crying shamelessly, unable to stop the tears even if she had wanted to. Kari rocked Gatomon in her arms affectionately. "I thought I'd really lost you," the kitten sobbed into her partner's shoulder.

"What happened to you?" inquired Hawkmon. "We all went down to our in-training forms, and I felt like my connection to you was weakening."

Yolie stroked Hawkmon's feathers. "If it weren't for Kari, we'd probably be dead."

"So I was right, you all were hurt, badly, I can only assume."

"What did Ken do to you?" Tk asked Patamon.

"He tried to make Gatomon and me digivolve into dark angels. He couldn't do it though. He was pretty pissed about it, even for him." Patamon flew to the top of Tk's head and rested himself there.

"We'd better get going," Kari said in a hushed voice. "Wormmon, I need you to make sure that the Kaiser doesn't go to the control room until everyone's out of here."

Wormmon gave her a reassuring smile and led the group down to the control room. "I'll keep him away," Wormmon called as he ran off.

"Does anyone have their digivices?" Kari asked, suddenly aware that she had no way to open the gate.

The digidestined patted their pockets. "Wait!" Yolie shouted, taking off her shoe. "Don't ask," she told the staring members of the party. Yolie held her D3 up to the main computer. "Digiport Open!"

"Hurry," Kari said, stepping aside.

"Right after you," Tk said.

"I'm, I mean, I can't go with you…"

"WHAT! What do you mean, of course you can; I'm not leaving without you!"

"Please, trust me. I can't go with you."

Tai grabbed his sister's arm. "I'm not leaving you behind with that psychopath! Let's go!"

The computer screen went black. The Kaiser stood by them, the plug in his hand. "Where do you think you're going?"

Tai lunged at the Kaiser. "I'm going to kill you, Ken!" Ken easily threw Tai off of him. Several Gisamon entered the control room, one holding Wormmon in his jaws. Weremon followed close behind them. "You want to hide behind digimon, fine then! You ready guys?"

The team nodded in unison.

"Agumon digivolve to… Greymon"

"Patamon armor digivolve to… Pegasusmon, Flying Hope"

"Veemon armor digivolve to… Flamedramon, the Fire of Courage"

"Hawkmon armor digivolve to…Halsemon, the Wings of Love"

"Armadillomon armor digivolve to…Digmon, the Drill of Knowledge"

"Gabumon digivolve to… Garurumon"

"Biyomon digivolve to…Birdramon"

"Tentomon digivolve to…Kabuterimon"

"Gomamon digivolve to…Ikakumon"

The limited space greatly hindered the usefulness of the larger digimon. Weremon quickly took out Greymon, Garurumon, Birdramon, Digmon, and Kabuterimon. The Gisamon were well on their way to overpowering Pegasusmon, Halsemon, Gatomon, and Flamedramon.

Tai went at the Kaiser once more. The two teens were locked in a violent fist fight. The Kaiser was the obvious stronger of the two, and Tai was beginning to tire out. Weremon attacked with a Blasting Spiral, which was in the path of both boys. Tai and the Kaiser turned their heads as the attacked neared them.

Kari jumped in and pushed her brother and the Kaiser out of the way. The attack went on until it hit a wall. Tai looked back at where he had been standing; Kari was lying there, motionless. Tai ran to his sister's side. "Kari! Wake up! Oh God, please, no. Please be okay." Blood soaked Tai's knees as it began covering the floor.

The Kaiser grabbed Tai and pulled him away. "If she dies, you die," he hissed, throwing Tai backwards. **_This wasn't supposed to happen! Ugh! I can't let her die!_**

The same light that had radiated from Kari back in the dungeons now enshrouded her again. The light went through the Kaiser, reaching to where Ken was. Ken felt the light enter his being, giving him new strength. The events that he had missed played out before him. _Kari needs my help! _Ken, with the help of the light, pushed back the barrier that had kept him prisoner.

The Kaiser fell to his knees as the light died down. Kari could be seen once more, no longer veiled by her attribute. No longer was she injured, having been able to heal herself like she had the others. The Kaiser grabbed the sides of his heads and howled in pain. **_No, Ken can't beat me now! I'm too close!_**

A black light darkened the room, with the Kaiser as its source. When it was gone, Ken was on his hands and knees, breathing heavily. Beside him stood…the Kaiser?

"What the hell…?" Tai whispered to Matt. Matt had no answer as he was just as confused.

The Kaiser burst into a fit of laughs. "You actually thought you could get rid of me? You're a bigger idiot then I had thought, you gave me my own body!" The Kaiser grabbed Ken by his shirt collar and pulled him upright. "Too little, too late," he spat.

"I won't let you get away with this!" Ken shouted, trying to free himself from the Kaiser's grasp. The Kaiser threw Ken into the arms of an awaiting Gisamon.

Holding up Ken's D3, the Kaiser shouted: "Dedigivolve!" The digidestined digimon that had not already dedigivolved now returned to their rookie levels. The dark power weakened them all to the point where they passed out. The Gisamon all grabbed the digidestined while the Kaiser went to where Kari was lying down. He placed one hand under her back and the other below her knees. As he picked her up, he commanded the Gisamon. "Return them to the dungeons, where they belong."

"No! Kari!" Tai shouted as he was dragged out of the room. Ken watched in horror as the Kaiser exited through the other door. _Oh God, Kari…_ He could only image what would happen to her now.

(0)

Guess what? The next chapter is the final chapter! Yay, it's almost done. Yeah, I know the part where the digidestined were healed was weak, feel free to flame my lack of creativity. Question: do you want a teaser for the sequel at the end of the next chapter? Should there be a sequel?

Did you notice that this chapter was completely Japanese name switch free? I didn't put Hikari once (until now). I won't for the rest of the fic, if I remember. I didn't call the Kaiser Ken either, I thought I would have.

Kaiser's luver: don't cry because you're Italian! The review in Italian was exciting, but it's easier when in English because I don't have to venture on down to a translating site (I'm so uncultured!) Any review would be appreciated, though!

Once again…

I'm starting to plan out another story, after this one is done. Which would you prefer?

1) A Yakari that becomes a KenKari: Even though Ken has realized the error of his ways and the digidestined were able to join up to defeat the final enemy, the digidestined never accepted Ken. When Ken transfers to the gang's high school, they don't make things easy for him. Only Kari wants to give him a chance. Overprotective boyfriend (that would be Matt) and brother (Tai, obviously) step in and create problems. Some sort of dark power comes after Kari and…. Well it would end up Ken/Kari but I can't give everything away.

Current votes: 4

2) A KenKari that becomes a Yakari: Ken and Kari become close because they both share a connection to the darkness. Ken gets pulled back into the dark world and breaks up with Kari. Yada, yada, yada, Matt and Kari get together and Ken, controlled by the darkness, tries to kidnap Kari…Matt must save the day.

Current Votes: 3

Both of these summaries are pretty vague, but I don't want to give it all away. Please review this chapter and add in which idea you like better. Pretty please?

**_Adventures of the Tainted_** is not the story for either option one or two. It's an idea that I had that I can hopefully straighten out in my head and write up properly. It's an adventure story with all the 01&02 digidestined but focuses on Kari. Check it out!

**!(-)!** I need a few more reviews before chapter 2 goes up!

Also, check out my profile for info on my current and future fics!

Jillie062


	8. Shattered Spore

Last chapter! Love me!

**Shattered **

**Chapter Eight: Shattered Spore**

The digidestined were thrown back into the cell that they had just recently escaped. The Gisamon slammed the cell door shut and took up posts along the corridor.

As soon as Tai had righted himself, he lunged at Ken. "Where were we?" he asked before punching Ken in the face. Ken fell backwards. He grunted in pain as Tai pulled him back to his feet. He made no attempt to try to stop the brunette as he took another hit. "What? Aren't you going to fight back? You thought you were so tough a moment ago!"

"No, go ahead. I deserve this."

Tai was taken aback by Ken's remark. He figured that Ken was just trying to mess with his mind and set up to punch him in the stomach. Someone grabbed him from behind, though. Ken fell back again with no one holding him up.

"Tai, what species of idiot are you?" Izzy asked. "Stop trying to beat on Ken when we should be focusing on getting Kari back." Izzy extended his hand out to Ken.

Ken took Izzy's hand to help him stand up. "You don't need to defend me. I'm getting what I deserve."

"Maybe so, but right now we need to work together to get Kari back. I need to know exactly what happened, how there were two of you."

Ken sighed deeply. _How am I supposed to explain? They aren't going to believe me, I wouldn't believe me._ _What could I say to them?_

"Ken!" Ken turned his head as a small green digimon leapt between the cell bars. Wormmon jumped into Ken's open arms. "Ken!" he cried, nuzzling his face into Ken's shoulder, "I'm so glad to have you back!"

"It's good to be back," he said with a weak smile. Izzy coughed impatiently. _I guess I have to tell them then. _"Okay, I don't know how to explain without sounding crazy, but the Kaiser isn't actually a real person, or at least he wasn't. He was a manifestation of dark energy that lived inside of me. Over the years he developed his own personality and influenced my actions. I was too weak and afraid to do anything but listen to him. I'm not sure how it happened, but I pushed the Kaiser out of me. The dark energy should have dissipated into the air but I guess that the dark energy had become strong enough where he didn't need a host body to survive."

"Yep, he's crazy," Davis said dryly.

"I think it makes perfect sense," Izzy stated. "And I think that we might be looking at the chosen digidestined of Kindness."

"How do you figure?" Tk spat out. He didn't like the idea at all. If Ken was in fact the bearer of Kindness, than he would have the same connection to Kari as he did. The thought did not settle well with him at all.

"Well, maybe I read this wrong, but it looked to me like the Kaiser was, um, kicked out of Ken's body after Kari's light hit him. If Ken is in fact the bearer of Kindness, then Kari's strength would have given him strength enough to remove the dark energy. Am I right?"

Ken nodded solemnly. "I was locked away in the back of my mind when I felt Kari's light. It helped me get free." _Why am I putting all the blame on the Kaiser? I'm just as much to blame for what's happened to Kari as he is. I'm so pathetic._

Tai grabbed Ken by his shirt collar. "I don't particularly care what happened to you. As soon as I get Kari back I'm going to finish you off."

Ken remained silent. He was perfectly okay with Tai killing him once Kari was safe. _At least that way I won't have to face everyone. What could I say to my parents, my friends, to Kari?_ Letting Tai kill him would be the easy way out, but Ken didn't care.

Ken suddenly had an idea; a possible way to beat the Kaiser. "Wormmon, I need you to go and get a knife or anything sharp." Wormmon looked puzzled but nonetheless squeezed through the bars and took off down the hall.

Looking slightly irritated, Ken searched for the name of the blue haired teen. "Joe!" he exclaimed, happy to remember.

"Uh, that's me. Why?"

"You're training to be a doctor aren't you?"

"Yes, but how'd you know-" Joe jumped as Wormmon sped back down the hallway.

Wormmon concealed the weapon as he pushed himself through the bars once more. "I really need to go on a diet," he groaned. "I found a butcher knife."

Ken took the knife, patting Wormmon on the head to thank him. He handed the knife to Joe. "You up for some on the job training?"

"I, uh, I don't know what you want me to do…"

"There's this thing, in the back of my neck, a dark spore. It's where the Kaiser came from. Maybe if you can remove it, it will stop the Kaiser."

Joe stared blankly. "You aren't serious, are you?"

"I can't cut it out myself!"

"I don't have the necessary supplies; I'd need some gloves, something to make you numb, antibiotics, gauze to clean it, a needle and thread to sew it up, I can't just cut your neck open without knowing exactly where to locate it, either."

"We don't have time for any of that! Please, I can have it cleaned or whatever later. Right now this the only way I can think of to stop the Kaiser."

Joe agreed reluctantly. He had ken get on his knees and bow his head, holding his hair out of the way. "Here goes nothing…" he said as the knife sank down into Ken's skin.

(0)

The air held an eerie silence. A hushed scream sliced through the air. The whip retracted, fresh blood covering it. The Kaiser circled around Kari, watching her intently. She glared at him, still biting her lip to stifle the scream that fought to echo through the halls.

Chains were bound around her wrists, raising her arms above her head. She could barely reach the ground, having to support herself on the balls of her feet. Cuts were many and most were deep, covering her back, shoulders, upper arms, and sides.

"You think I'm enjoying this, don't you?" the Kaiser asked the injured girl.

"How could I not?" she spat back.

"All you have to do is say that you'll be mine, and this whole nightmare will be behind us. Become my Kaiserin."

"I'd rather you just kill me."

The Kaiser frowned deeply. **_How is she still resisting me? This can't be bearable, I'll conquer her soon enough._** A fresh lashing cut into her skin, between her shoulder blades.

Returning to face her, the Kaiser stepped closer. He put his hands on her cheeks, still holding the whip, and kissed her fiercely. He pulled at her lower lip seductively. "Say it" he commanded.

"Why don't you just save us both some time and give it up. I will NEVER be yours."

"But you see, you already are. I hold all the cards. I control the digimon, I have you in my grasp, I have your friends and Ken down in the dungeon waiting for my to hand them their fates."

"You wouldn't…"

"What? Use them against you to convince you to become my Kaiserin? No, I wouldn't, I'm going to kill them either way. Naturally, I'm going to get rid of Ken first."

"No, you're going to lose in the end. Ken's going to stop you."

"Again with this? You thought he was going to beat me before, remember? And look, I'm still going strong."

"He got rid of you. You claimed that he didn't have the strength to do that."

"Yeah, he gave me my own body; I doubt that's what he expected to do." **_Wait…_** "You like him, don't you?"

"…I don't know…" Kari shrieked as the whip cut across her side. **_Dammit, what does Ken have that I don't? I'm ten times the man Ken is!_**

The Kaiser circled around Kari. A lashing, a kiss, a lashing, a kiss, a lashing, a kiss. He was enjoying himself a little too much. He was a sadist, he'd admit, and the entire scene was very…erotic to him; a beautiful young girl in chains, unable to stop his advances. She was no longer able to stop herself from letting out a cry of pain as the whipping continued. **_I can't wait to make her mine, officially. I'll make her scream, for sure._**

"Stop…" she whispered, her voice weak and cracked.

"Are you ready to surrender?" The Kaiser ran his finger over one of the open cuts. She winced, jerking her body forward and putting more strain on her shoulders as she fought to keep her feet on the ground. The Kaiser wrapped his arms around her from behind, putting his hands on her lower abdomen. He pressed his front against her, staining his white shirt. "Well?"

"No," Kari whispered. "But if you kiss me one more time, I'm going to hurl. I'd rather be whipped than have your filthy hands on me!" Kari quickly regretted her words. The Kaiser complied, removing his arms from around her and unleashing a fresh wave of hits. New slashes stained her already red a skin.

After ten or so more lashes, Kari ceased to move. The Kaiser walked around her, finding that she had passed out. "Pity," he said to himself. He pulled a key out of his pocket and undid the chains that held her arms up. She fell, only to be caught by the Kaiser. He stroked her cheek; the blood on his gloves smeared on her face.

**_What to do now…? So many choices._** The Kaiser's body twitched suddenly. "He wouldn't," he hissed. Another spasm circulated through him. He dropped Kari, whose head hit the hard ground. The Kaiser took off down the hall, heading towards the dungeon.

(0)

"How you doing?" Joe asked his patient.

"I'll be alright," Ken replied.

The knife wasn't very useful when it came to dissecting a person. Joe had cut an 'x' through the back of Ken's neck, trying to open up the sides. "This might've been easier with a scalpel or anything smaller."

"Sorry," Wormmon whispered.

"You…" Tai growled, gazing at the newcomer on the other side of the cell.

The Kaiser sneered. "…Me" he responded. The cell door opened and the Kaiser welcomed himself in. "Now, now, what could be going on?" The digidestined took small steps backwards as the Kaiser walked further into the cell. In a sudden swoop, he had knocked Joe to the ground, causing the knife to fall to the ground. The Kaiser kicked it out of the cell. "Get up, Kenny."

Ken rose with some difficulty. _Is that blood on his shirt? Oh God, Kari!_ "What have you done!"

The Kaiser looked down at his blood stained shirt. "I was in the middle of something, until you decided to act like an idiot. I'm going to take care of you quickly, there's a pretty girl waiting for me upstairs."

_He must have felt me trying to remove the dark spore! There must still be a connection between them after all. _"If you kill me now, what will happen to the spore?"

The Kaiser laughed. He spun around and kicked Ken's legs out from under him. Ken landed with a grunt. Being pulled back onto his feet, Ken was slammed into the wall. He went down, having no intention of getting up.

Tai tackled the Kaiser from behind. Possessing a physical strength that put everyone else to shame, the Kaiser quickly brought Tai down. His head snapped towards Tk. **_The self-proclaimed hero, hmm._** The Kaiser dove at Tk, mercilessly attacking him. Tk's face was soon covered in blood, and Matt, when he tried to pull the Kaiser away from his brother, was punched in the stomach and badly winded.

Ken watched in horror as the Kaiser beat on Tk. _He's going to kill him…_ Ken forced apart the skin on his neck with his thumb and forefinger. Digging underneath his flesh, he searched for the spore. Finally, he found it. Ripping it out, Ken found that the spore had crystallized into a smooth and solid sphere.

The Kaiser shivered again. He whipped around, leaving Tk and advancing towards Ken. "Give that to me," he warned.

Ken looked at the Kaiser intently. _He looks afraid._ Ken slammed the dark spore onto the ground with all the strength he could muster. The spore shattered into an infinite number of pieces before dissolving into the atmosphere. The Kaiser fell forward, grabbing Ken's shoulders. "This isn't over," he whispered into Ken's ear. "I'll be back to get what's mine." The Kaiser's body broke up into pieces of data, much like a digimon's would have.

Ken slowly raised himself to his feet. He took off in a run. "Where are you going!" Tai shouted.

"To find Kari," he yelled over his shoulder.

Matt helped his brother to his feet and followed Ken along with the others. Ken dashed through winding hallways, running until he could no longer catch his breath. He stood outside of Kari's room; afraid of what he would find when he opened the door.

The stench of blood wafted through the air when the door was opened. Ken ran forward and sank to his knees in front of a body that was deathly still. Blood was inching across the ground around Kari, soaking into the stone and staining it a dark crimson. Ken leaned forward and listened for breathing. He saw the chains attached to the ceiling above her and his hands clenched into fists.

"Should she look that pale?" Davis asked, horrified by her condition. "She isn't, you know-"

"No, she's alive. But we need to get to a hospital now." _You're going to be okay, I'll make sure of it._ He scooped her up into his arms and nodded towards the door. Izzy, the one nearest the exit, used his navigation skills to faultlessly lead them towards the control room.

Ken began to falter. He looked around him; Matt was the nearest to him. "Matt," he whispered, "take Kari." As soon as he had successfully placed Kari into Matt's strong arms, Ken lost consciousness.

Tk stopped running when he heard Ken fall. "Leave him," he muttered viciously.

"You seem to forget that if it weren't for him, you'd probably still be at the mercy of the Kaiser's fist and Kari would still be laying in that room, dieing!" Matt glared at his little brother. Tk was supposed to be the sensitive one!

Tai sighed loudly. "We don't have time for this," he growled hauling Ken over his shoulder. "Izzy, you can find the control room right?"

The redhead gave Tai a nod. They followed Izzy into the control room. Yolie found her digivice in her shoe once more. "Digiport Open!"

Matt fought to keep on his feet when he made it through to the other side. "Where are we?" he asked to the general audience. The group stood in a dank and dirty alleyway, a busted computer against the wall. The morning light had barely begun to lighten up the small corridor.

"I wonder how we could go through a broken computer," Izzy mused. "We are…Oh! Of course, we're in the city; the hospital isn't far from here."

"Lead the way," Tai dictated.

(0)

"In our top story this evening, both Ken Ichijoji, and Kari Kamiya, two teens who have been missing, were brought into Odiaba Community Hospital early this morning. The nine teens involved in finding the two, Kari's older brother, Tai Kamyia included, all did not return home last night. Suspiciously, the teens cannot disclose their location during the night, and they fail to be able to point out where they found young Kamiya and Ichijoji. Both were brought in unconscious. Ken suffers from a severe infection that was brought on by a deep cut in the back of his neck, but doctors expect him to wake up within the next few hours. Kari Kamiya is in worse condition. She has an undistinguishable number of what appear to be 'whippings' and a nasty concussion. She has lost a large amount of blood. Doctors are unsure of what will happen. Police can only logically deduce that the same person, or persons, was behind the kidnappings. JPN News Network will keep you posted, I'm Kow Shippton, and have a good day."

"Shut that crap off!" Tai ordered.

_This is a wonderful way to start the day; a nice hospital bed to make your back stiff. _Ken stretched his arms out above his head Ken gingerly put his hand over the back of his neck. Gauze had been put over it, no doubt. _I should probably let them know I'm awake…_

A voice was heard through the other side of the door. Ken couldn't be sure, but it sounded like: "Well than call security, I'd love to meet more members of your incompetent staff. Maybe we could do lunch. But right now, I'm going in there and you aren't stopping me!"

Ken had a bad feeling about what was about to happen. Sure enough, the door was thrown open. "You're awake," the owner of the voice was the same as the one Ken had heard yelling outside the door, Tai.

"Yeah," Ken said softly.

"How long you been awake?"

"Just a few minutes." There was an awkward silence for a moment as Tai closed the door behind him. "So, how'd I get here anyway?"

"I carried you from the base."

"You did? Why didn't you just leave me there?"

"I would have, but Matt had to be all compassionate."

"So…when am I going to be arrested? Or do you want to finish me off yourself?"

"We told the cops that we don't know anything. You're going to tell them that you don't remember anything. And as for finishing you off myself, it's tempting, but if it weren't for you, we probably wouldn't have gotten to Kari in time. Besides, there's a woman in hysterics out there over you. She's almost as worked up as my mother is."

"My mom's here?"

"Well of course!"

Ken swallowed, overcome by emotion. _I can't face her, what could I tell her? I'm sorry I ran away mom, but I hated you and everyone else on the face of the Earth. _"How's Kari?"

"Do you want the truth or the buttered down version Joe tried to tell me?"

"The truth, I guess."

Tai took a seat at the end of the bed. He ran his hands through his untamed hair before starting. "Well, it's not good. Some of the, uh, whippings, had to be sewn up, and she has a concussion. She's lost a _lot_ of blood. Frankly, the doctors don't know if she's going to wake up."

Ken lowered his head. _This is all my fault…_ How did he get away with just one cut, while Kari was lying in the hospital somewhere, dieing? "Can I see her?"

"No," Tai said flatly. "They won't let anyone see her, not even my parents or me." Tai stood up. "Speaking of parents, I'm going to send yours in."

Before Ken could protest, Tai had already left the room. He could hear his mother's hysterics, even before she was in his range of vision.

"Ken!" Mrs. Ichijoji hugged her son tightly, a fresh wave of tears flowing from her eyes. Even Mr. Ichijoji was crying silently, trying to hide it. "I'm so glad you're alright! You can't believe how worried I was. I'm just glad you're safe!"

_They do care…how could I have missed that? _"Mom?" he whispered in a shaky voice. "I'm sorry I worried you, I really am." Mrs. Ichijoji was too emotional to speak, so she just hugged her son until he turned blue from lack of breathing.

(0)

Three days later, Ken was almost ready to be released. The doctors wanted to keep him one more night, since he had another day of taking antibiotics. "Hey, Ken? Get up!" Ken stared at the intruder. Tai, for the umpteenth time in the past few days, was standing in the doorframe.

"Why?" Ken asked.

"Because Kari is awake and she wants to speak to you."

Ken's heart skipped a beat. _She's awake!_ He jumped out of the bed and followed Tai down the hall. He was grateful that he had been allowed to wear normal clothes again, for he would have felt very foolish running around in just the hospital gown.

Tk was in the room when Ken arrived. The young blonde gave Ken a satanic glare as he left the room. He had a black eye and a swollen lip from the Kaiser's attack. Ken walked in slowly, afraid to face the girl he had put through so much turmoil.

"How are you?" Kari asked, her voice softer than usual.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

"You can't answer a question with a question. Answer, then you may ask."

"I'm alright," he said, taking another step into the room. "I should be getting out of here tonight. How are you holding up?"

She shrugged. "I could lie and tell you I'm great, but I don't like lying. I've been better, but I've been worse, too." She sent him a soft smile. "The worst part is having all these needles in my skin."

"Kari? Why aren't you yelling at me or cursing me out or at least openly loathing me?"

"Why would I be?"

Ken threw his hands into the air. "Because of everything I did! Because it's my fault your even here!"

"You didn't put me here, the Kaiser did."

"But I let the Kaiser control me!"

"You beat him in the end."

"I couldn't have if it weren't for you…" _I don't deserve to even be breathing the same air as you, how do you not hate me?_

Her smile lit up the room. "It just goes to show that we can't do everything on our own. Even you need help once in a while."

Ken's eyes dropped to the floor. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. I'd better get going; I'm sure Tai wants to speak with you."

"Hey Ken?"

Ken turned, his hand gently gripping the doorknob. "Yeah?"

"Don't be a stranger. You're one of us; we have to fix the Digital World _together._"

_Together, I kind of like that idea._ "Sure thing," he said, before shutting the door behind him.

(0)

It feels good to say fin.

Okay, some mindless rambling is needed just because it's at the bottom of every chapter.

This fic obviously didn't end a definite Kenkari. But, that is where the beauty of sequels comes in. For fear of repercussions, mainly me not wanting to get shot (coughKaiser'sluvercough), there will be a sequel.

Set in the next spring (fic ends late July/early August) in May. Ken and Kari ARE a couple! Um, teasers don't give too much away, so I'm going to be very vague. The Kaiser has reformed his body, and wants only two things: Revenge and Kari. Kari is kidnapped…what's this? An evil Kari? A Kaiserin? She's sick? The digidestined can't leave the Digital World? There's a new way to generate dark energy other than a dark spore?

Confused? Well those were some chapter subjects. If there's anything you'd like to see, put it in the review A-SAP. More ideas mean a longer fic! I was hoping that this would be longer than eight chapters, and I want to make the sequel longer, or have longer chapters, at least. So, send me your muses!

The Yakari that becomes a Kenkari has won. (Idea number one) Since I'm not going to have any free time from now until after spring break (I'm going to Europe during spring break, I'll try to write up some chapters while I'm chilling in the hotels) don't be surprised if I don't post anything until after then. I want to at least get chapter 2 out for Adventures of the Tainted, maybe chapter one of the sequel. It depends on how much homework I have during the week.

If you've come this far into the fic and never reviewed, you bothered to read the whole thing, why not leave at least a final comment? It's proven to make your heart healthier, just like Cheerios (Did I really just type that? I did stay up late to get this done…)

Ah yes, once more, the fin.

Jillie062


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